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

Ziyu Dong, Dingxun Wang, Beichen Wang, Jillian A New, Yuk Fai Leung, GuangJun Zhang

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Article in Developmental biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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6 authors.

Ziyu DongDepartment of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University, 625 Harrison Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.

Dingxun WangDepartment of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University, 625 Harrison Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.

Beichen WangDepartment of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, 915 Mitch Daniels Boulevard, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.

Jillian A NewDepartment of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, 915 Mitch Daniels Boulevard, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.

Yuk Fai LeungDepartment of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, 915 Mitch Daniels Boulevard, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Purdue University, 715 Clinic Drive, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA; Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery, Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA; Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, Purdue University, 207 S Martin Jischke Dr, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.

GuangJun ZhangDepartment of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University, 625 Harrison Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA; Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery, Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA; Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, Purdue University, 207 S Martin Jischke Dr, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA; Purdue Institute for Cancer Research, Purdue University, 201 S University St, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA; Purdue Institute for Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Diseases (PI4D), Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN, 47906, USA. Electronic address: gjzhang@purdue.edu.

Funding

Roles of ion-channel mediated bioelectricity in developmental patterningR35GM124913 · NIGMS · PURDUE UNIVERSITY · PI GuangJun Zhang · 2017 to 2026

$4.2M

NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM124913

6 · The paper itself

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 syntenic 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 showed that this channel could mediate calcium flux in response to mechanical stimuli in HEK293T cells, suggesting that zebrafish 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 light illumination. Our results suggest that this new Piezo channel is widespread in vertebrates and may be critical for vertebrate adaptation by modulating mechanical sensing and light responses during evolution.

Indexed as

MechanosensingOhnologPiezo3Whole-genome duplication (WGD)Zebrafish

Identifiers

PMID42849651

DOI10.1016/j.ydbio.2026.10.001

PMCPMC13686136

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