Researchers at the NIH report that the PIEZO2 gene controls specific aspects of human touch and proprioception, a “sixth sense” describing awareness of one’s body in space. Mutations in the gene caused the two patients in the study to have movement and balance problems and the loss of some forms of touch. Despite their difficulties, they both appeared to cope with these challenges by relying heavily on vision and other senses.
“Our study highlights the critical importance of PIEZO2 and the senses it controls in our daily lives,” said Carsten G. Bönnemann, M.D., senior investigator at the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and a co-leader of the study (“The Role of PIEZO2 in Human Mechanosensation”) published in the New England Journal of Medicine. “The results establish that PIEZO2 is a touch and proprioception gene in humans. Understanding its role in these senses may provide clues to a variety of neurological disorders.”
