Piezo2-flox Mouse

Piezo2, also known as Fam38B, is an essential component of mechanically activated cation channels. It plays a crucial role in mechanosensation, which is involved in numerous physiological processes such as touch, pain sensation, proprioception, and gastrointestinal transit regulation [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8].

Piezo2-deficient mouse models have provided significant insights into its functions. Mice lacking Piezo2 in proprioceptive neurons show severely uncoordinated body movements and abnormal limb positions, indicating that Piezo2 is the major mechanotransducer for mammalian proprioception [6]. In Merkel-cell-specific Piezo2-deficient mice, Merkel-cell mechanosensitivity is completely lost, reducing the static firing rates of slowly adapting responses mediated by the Merkel cell-neurite complex and decreasing the mice's behavioural responses to gentle touch [8]. Nociceptor-specific Piezo2 conditional knockout mice are protected from mechanical sensitization associated with inflammatory joint pain and osteoarthritis [9].

In conclusion, Piezo2 is vital for multiple mechanosensory processes, including proprioception, touch sensation, and pain-related mechanical sensitization. The use of gene knockout and conditional knockout mouse models has been instrumental in uncovering its role in these biological processes, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic target for diseases related to abnormal mechanosensation, such as osteoarthritis pain [6,8,9].