International Journal of Molecular Sciences Review Piezo Channels: Awesome Mechanosensitive Structures in Cellular Mechanotransduction and Their Role in Bone Xia Xu 1,2,3,4,† , Shuyu Liu 1,2,3,4,† , Hua Liu 1,2,3,4, Kang Ru 1,2,3,4, Yunxian Jia 1,2,3,4, Zixiang Wu 1,2,3,4, Shujing Liang 1,2,3,4, Zarnaz Khan 1,2,3,4, Zhihao Chen 1,2,3,4 , Airong Qian 1,2,3,4,* and Lifang Hu 1,2,3,4,* 1 Lab for Bone Metabolism, Key Lab for Space Biosciences and Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China;
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[email protected] (Z.C.) 2 Xi’an Key Laboratory of Special Medicine and Health Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China 3 Research Center for Special Medicine and Health Systems Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China 4 NPU-UAB Joint Laboratory for Bone Metabolism, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China * Correspondence:
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[email protected] (L.H.) † These authors have contributed equally to this work. Abstract: Piezo channels are mechanosensitive ion channels located in the cell membrane and function as key cellular mechanotransducers for converting mechanical stimuli into electrochemical signals.