All microorganisms possess a positive turgor, and maintenance of this outward-directed
pressure is essential since it is generally considered as the driving force for cell expansion …

Two general strategies exist for the growth and survival of prokaryotes in environments of
elevated osmolarity. The 'salt in cytoplasm'approach, which requires extensive structural …

The simplest cell-like structure, the lipid bilayer vesicle, can respond to mechanical
deformation by elastic membrane dilation/thinning and curvature changes. When a protein is …

Mechanosensitive channels are ubiquitous amongst bacterial cells and have been
proposed to have major roles in the adaptation to osmotic stress, in particular in the …

ALL cellular organisms respond to vibration, touch, gravity or changes in osmolarity,
although the molecules on which such mechanosensations depend are unknown …

While mechanobiological processes employ diverse mechanisms, at their heart are force-
induced perturbations in the structure and dynamics of molecules capable of triggering …

Of Aristotle's five senses, we know that sight, smell and much of taste are initiated by ligands
binding to G-protein-coupled receptors; however, the mechanical sensations of touch and …

Potassium is the major intracellular cation in bacteria as well as in eucaryotic cells. Bacteria
accumulate K+ by a number of different transport systems that vary in kinetics, energy …

Bacteria can survive dramatic osmotic shifts. Osmoregulatory responses mitigate the passive
adjustments in cell structure and the growth inhibition that may ensue. The levels of certain …

The mechanosensitive channel of small conductance (MscS) responds both to stretching of
the cell membrane and to membrane depolarization. The crystal structure at 3.9 angstroms …