Figure 7.

(A) A possible schematic of the ion channel. When membrane tension is low, the ion channel protein remains in a closed conformation (56). When membrane tension elevates by direct deformation of the lipid bilayer or indirectly by applying forces on the ECM and/or cytoskeleton, opening the ion channel protein allows inward currents (56). (Created with BioRender.com). (B) Increased TRPC3 channel expression and fibronectin production in stretched human cells: (a) The qRT-PCR demonstrated that stretched cells showed more TRPC3 mRNA expression compared to normal, unstretched fibroblasts. Data represent the means ± SD of 3 samples. *P < 0.01 (103). (b) Fibronectin production was increased in TRPC3 overexpressing fibroblasts when they were subjected to repetitive stretching. **P < 0.001, *P < 0.005 (103). (C) (a, b) Images and quantitative analysis of Piezo1 in human normal skin and HTS. (Scale bar = 50 μm) (104). (c, d) Images and quantitative analysis of immunohistochemistry staining of Piezo1 in rat normal skin and HS. (Scale bar = 50 μm) (104). The results are expressed as the means with SD (n = 3). The T-test is used for all analyses. ***P < 0.005. (D) The Piezo 1 knockout mice displayed significantly smaller wound areas compared to their control littermates, while Piezo1 gain-of-function mice showed larger wound areas, indicating that increased channel activity leads to impaired wound closure (105).