Piezo1 as a Key Mechanosensitive Ion Channel Linking Mechanical Overload to Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Mitophagy, and Immunometabolic Dysregulation in Osteoarthritis
Hechmi Toumi, Ahmad Almhdie-Imjabbar, Eric Lespessailles · 2026
Read Piezo1 as a Key Mechanosensitive Ion Channel Linking Mechanical Overload to Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Mitophagy, and Immunometabolic Dysregulation in Osteoarthritis by Hechmi Toumi, Ahmad Almhdie-Imjabbar, Eric Lespessailles (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13565042.txt.
Description
Osteoarthritis wears down joints under mechanical load, and Hechmi Toumi, Ahmad Almhdie-Imjabbar, and Eric Lespessailles review one sensor that may turn load into damage in this 2026 paper. The sensor is Piezo1, a channel in the cell membrane that opens under pressure and lets calcium flood in.
Held open too long, the channel overloads the cell's power plants with calcium, the authors argue. Energy output falls, waste radicals rise, and the cleanup of worn power plants falters. The damage wakes two alarm systems that pour out inflammatory signals, feeding a loop of inflammation and cartilage breakdown. The review gathers the evidence for each link in that chain and frames the channel as a drug target. It closes by marking what still needs direct proof.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Hechmi Toumi, Ahmad Almhdie-Imjabbar, Eric Lespessailles |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 55 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |