Structure and function of the bacterial mechanosensitive channel of large conductance

Mechanosensation in bacteria involves transducing membrane stress into an e lectrochemical response. In Escherichia coli and other bacteria, this funct ion is carried out by a number of proteins including MscL, the mechanosensi tive channel of large conductance. MscL is the best characterized of all me chanosensitive channels. It has been the subject of numerous structural and functional investigations. The explosion in experimental data on MscL rece ntly culminated in the solution of the three-dimensional structure of the M scL homologue from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this review, much of thes e data are united and interpreted in terms of the newly published M. tuberc ulosis MscL crystal structure.