Nanobiomechanics and Mechanotransduction of Sensory Neurons

A detailed knowledge of mechanical parameters such as cell elasticity, stiffness and viscoelasticity is essential for understanding the mechanisms that control the mechanotransduction in mechanosensory neurons (MSN). Indeed, in order to tune and maximize their sensitivity, MSN should be neither too rigid nor to compliant; moreover they are expected to show different elasticity as a function of the typology of mechanical stimulus they should record. However a precise correlation between MSN mechanical properties and mechanotransduction mechanism is still missing, and the sensory mechanical transduction, necessary for the senses of touch and pain, remains poorly understood.