Mechanosensitive currents in the neurites of cultured mouse sensory neurones

The authors ask where mechanically activated currents arise in sensory neurons. Applying sub-micrometre indentations with a heat-polished glass probe driven by an MM3A Nanomotor — its fast coarse mode and fine mode giving controlled displacement and velocity — they find that almost all neurites carry mechanically gated currents, classified by their inactivation kinetics into rapidly-, intermediately- and slowly-adapting types. The manipulator’s precise, timed displacement is what lets these kinetics be resolved.