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Ardem Patapoutian, PhD

Professor

Department of Neuroscience

Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Presidential Endowed Chair in Neurobiology

Ardem Patapoutian, PhD

Research Focus

Mechanotransduction is perhaps the last sensory modality not understood at the molecular level. Proteins/ion channels that sense mechanical force are postulated to play critical roles in sensing touch/pain (somatosensation), sound (hearing), shear stress (cardiovascular tone), etc.; however, the identity of ion channels involved in sensing mechanical force has remained elusive. The Patapoutian lab identified PIEZO1 and PIEZO2, mechanically-activated cation channels that are expressed in many mechanosensitive cell types. Genetic studies established that PIEZO2 is the principal mechanical transducer for touch, proprioception, and baroreception, and that PIEZO1 mediates blood-flow sensing, which impacts blood pressure regulation and vascular development. Patapoutian lab has since isolated other mechanosensors including GPR68 and OSCA/TMEM63 family members. The lab continues to analyze the physiological relevance of these ion channels and receptors in mechanosensation, and search for novel mechanically activated sensors.

Select Publications

  • Hill, Rose Z.; Nelson, Jonathan W.; Gyarmati, Georgina; Medrano, Silvia; Shirvan, Sepenta; McCormick, James A.; Burquez, Sebastian; Ahmed, Jeanine; Eng, Diana G.; Wysocki, Jan; Dubin, Adrienne E.; Servin-Vences, M Roci R.; Lakshmanan, Arjun; Gomez, R Arie A.; Sequeira-Lopez, Maria Luisa S; Shankland, Stuart J.; Batlle, Daniel; Miner, Jeffrey H.; Peti-Peterdi, Janos; Patapoutian, Ardem Renal PIEZO2 is an essential regulator of renin. Cell 2026, 189, 161-178.e22.

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  • Mulhall, Eric M.; Yarishkin, Oleg; Hill, Rose Z.; Koster, Anna K.; Patapoutian, Ardem The molecular basis of force selectivity by PIEZO2. Nature 2026.

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  • Wang, Yu; Zhang, Yunxiao; Leung, Verina H.; Seradj, Saba Heydar H.; Sonmez, Utku; Servin-Vences, M Roci R.; Xiao, Shuke; Ren, Xiangyu; Wang, Leon; Mishkanian, Sassan A.; Kini, Sejal A.; Long, Jonathan Z.; Lipomi, Darren J.; Ye, Li; Patapoutian, Ardem A key role of PIEZO2 mechanosensitive ion channel in adipose sensory innervation. Cell Metabolism 2025, 37, 1001-1011.e7.

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  • Zhang, Yunxiao; Kini, Sejal A.; Mishkanian, Sassan A.; Yarishkin, Oleg; Luo, Renhao; Seradj, Saba Heydar H.; Leung, Verina H.; Wang, Yu; Servín-Vences, M Rocí R.; Keenan, William T.; Sonmez, Utku; Sanchez-Alavez, Manuel; Liu, Yuejia; Jin, Xin; Lipomi, Darren J.; Ye, Li; Petrascheck, Michael; Frolova, Antonina I.; England, Sarah K.; Patapoutian, Ardem PIEZO channels link mechanical forces to uterine contractions in parturition. Science 2025, 390, eady3045.

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  • Ma, Shang; Dubin, Adrienne E.; Romero, Luis O.; Loud, Meaghan; Salazar, Alexandra; Chu, Sarah; Klier, Nikola; Masri, Sameer; Zhang, Yunxiao; Wang, Yu; Chesler, Alex T.; Wilkinson, Katherine A.; Vásquez, Valeria; Marshall, Kara L.; Patapoutian, Ardem Excessive mechanotransduction in sensory neurons causes joint contractures. Science 2023, 379, 201-206.

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  • Mulhall, Eric M.; Gharpure, Anant; Lee, Rachel M.; Dubin, Adrienne E.; Aaron, Jesse S.; Marshall, Kara L.; Spencer, Kathryn R.; Reiche, Michael A.; Henderson, Scott C.; Chew, Teng-Leong; Patapoutian, Ardem S. Direct observation of the conformational states of PIEZO1. Nature 2023.

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The inner workings of the brain have eluded neuroscientists for ages—including how we perceive sensations such as touch, pain, sound and even blood flow. In this Front Row lecture, Scripps Research professor and Nobel laureate Ardem Patapoutian discussed the molecular sensors that enable the mind to interpret different physical and chemical stimuli. These discoveries—for which Patapoutian was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine—are helping answer long-standing questions in neuroscience, such as how cells communicate with each other, how we sense our body in time and space, how these sensors impact different diseases and more.

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