On the gating of mechanosensitive channels by fluid shear stress

Mechanosensation is an important process in biological fluid–structure interaction. To understand the biophysics underlying mechanosensation, it is essential to quantify the correlation between membrane deformation, membrane tension, external fluid shear stress, and conformation of mechanosensitive (MS) channels. Smoothed dissipative particle dynamics (SDPD) simulations of vesicle/cell in three types of flow configurations are conducted to calculate the tension in lipid membrane due to fluid shear stress from the surrounding viscous flow. In combination with a simple continuum model for an MS channel, SDPD simulation results suggest that shearing adhered vesicles/cells is more effective to induce membrane tension sufficient to stretch MS channels open than a free shear flow or a constrictive channel flow. In addition, we incorporate the bilayer–cytoskeletal interaction in a two-component model to probe the effects of a cytoskeletal network on the gating of MS channels.