Piezo3 is a new member of the PIEZO ion channel family in vertebrates.

Abstract

Mechanosensing and mechanotransduction are essential for all living cells. In mammals, Piezo1 and Piezo2 are two mechanically activated cation channels that serve as mechanosensors for a variety of physiological and pathological processes, ranging from touch sensing to sickle cell disease. These two channels are well evolutionarily conserved, and orthologous genes can be traced back to the origin of vertebrates, which underwent whole-genome duplications (WGDs). The number of paralogous genes originating from the vertebrate WGD varies across gene families. Thus, whether there are more PIEZO paralogous genes in vertebrates remains understudied. Here, we identified piezo3, a new paralog of the piezo gene family, and analyzed its evolutionary history using phylogenetic and synteny analyses. The piezo3 gene is present in most vertebrate lineages but absent in birds and most mammals, likely due to nonfunctionalization after WGDs. In addition, we demonstrated that this channel could mediate calcium flux in response to mechanical stimuli in HEK293T cells, suggesting that Piezo3 exhibits PIEZO1/2-like activation and conduction channel functions. Our CRISPR mutation analysis revealed that the zebrafish piezo3 gene is not developmentally essential for skeletons and survival, possibly because its expression overlaps with other PIEZO channels. Mutant zebrafish showed elevated sensitivity to mechanical force and increased locomotor activity under (photopic) light illumination. Our results suggest that this new mechanical-sensing Piezo channel is widespread in vertebrates and may be critical for vertebrate adaptation by modulating mechanical sensing and light responses during evolution.