Expression of Piezo1 channel in human normal prostate epithelial and prostate cancer cell lines. Comparison of Piezo1 at (A) mRNA levels and at (B) protein levels between human normal RWPE-1 cell line, and PC-3 and DU145 prostate cancer cell lines. **P<0.01 vs. RWPE-1. PC-3 and DU145 prostate cancer cell lines showed significant higher Piezo1 expression compared with RWPE-1 cells. Knockdown of Piezo1 channel by shRNA significantly decreased the expression of Piezo1 at the (C) mRNA and (D) protein levels in the DU145 cell line. *P<0.05 and **P<0.01 vs. control shRNA. (n=3). (E) Representative Piezo1 MA current in RWPE-1, DU145 and DU145 cells after Piezo1 channel knockdown. The Piezo1 MA current was evoked by a stimulus probe with a series of poking displacementsteps. (F) Summary data of Piezo1 MA current density with different displacement distances in RWPE-1, DU145 and DU145 Piezo1 shRNA cells (n=8 in each group). Data are presented as the mean ± SEM. *P<0.05 RWPE-1 vs. DU145; #P<0.05 DU145 vs. DU145, Piezo1 shRNA (n=8 in each group). Piezo1, piezo type mechanosensitive ion channel component 1; shRNA, short hairpin RNA; MA, mechanically activated.