PIEZO2, a mechanosensor in the urinary bladder.

The functions of the lower urinary tract to store and eliminate urine are regulated by complex neural pathways that coordinate the activity of the smooth and striated muscles of the bladder, urethra, and urethral sphincters.1 Besides control by the central nervous system, micturition reflexes are triggered by bladder filling that stretches the bladder wall and by urine flow in the urethra that triggers a urethra-to-bladder reflex facilitating bladder contraction and emptying. Both the urothelium and the mechanically sensitive afferents from the dorsal root ganglia are involved in stretch and pressure detection.
Source: Kidney International - Category: Urology & Nephrology Authors: Tags: nephrology digest Source Type: research