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Fig. 6. A model of the MS channel from Caenorhabditis elegans. (A) The channel is formed from five subunits, including the MEC-4, MEC-6 and MEC-10 membrane proteins, and the integral membrane protein MEC-2, which is homologous to stomatin (a red blood cell protein that binds to the cytoskeleton and regulates cation conductance). In the model, MEC-2 connects the MS channel to microtubules (composed of {alpha}- and ß-tubulin encoded by mec-12 and mec-7, respectively). (B) The MEC-1 and MEC-5 (a unique collagen) proteins make the mantle, whose pushing by the shearing force F (arrow) results in opening of the MS channel. MEC-9 is an extracellular protein, which does not form the mantle, but is proposed to form the gating spring between the MS channel and the mantle. Figure reproduced with permission from Elsevier (Hamill and McBride, 1996a).





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