Gating prokaryotic mechanosensitive channels.

Prokaryotic mechanosensitive channels function as molecular switches that transduce bilayer deformations into protein motion. These protein structural rearrangements generate large non-selective pores that function as a prokaryotic 'last line of defence' to sudden osmotic challenges. Once considered an electrophysiological artefact, recent structural, spectroscopic and functional data have placed this class of protein at the centre of efforts to understand the molecular basis of lipid-protein interactions and their influence on protein function.