Courtesy Nektarios Tavernarakis
A. Touch transducing complex in C. elegans touch receptor neurons.
The channel is closed in the absence of mechanical stimulation and the
sensory neuron is idle. Application of mechanical force to the animal's
body results in the distortion of a network of interacting molecules that
opens the degenerin channel. Na+ influx depolarizes the neuron initiating
the perceptory integration of the stimulus.
B. Mechanical gating of the channels in vertebrate ear hair cells. Mechanosensory channels situated at the stereocilia tips are pulled open by the tip-link when stereocilia are deflected.