Abstract

This systematic review examines the role of Piezo1 in epithelial cells, with a focus on vocal folds homeostasis. Understanding the homeostasis recovery process in the vocal fold epithelium is crucial for improving voice treatments, including pharmaceutical and therapeutic interventions. The review was structured based on the PRISMA framework and considered two widely used by the healthcare sciences community electronic databases: PubMed and Scopus. It incorporated MESH terms "Piezo1 protein, mouse", "PIEZO1 protein, human", "Piezo1 protein, rat", and "Epithelial Cells" from 5-year-old papers. The extracted information included sample characterization, analytic techniques, and Piezo1's role in vocal fold homeostasis. Piezo1 is an ion channel responsible of transducing mechanical-sensory stimuli into electrochemical signals, increasing intracellular Ca2+ upon activation. However, its role in vocal folds epithelium remains unclear. Understanding Piezo1 regulation and its downstream activation pathway may yield therapies for vocal-fold related disorders (i.e., in developing drugs to modulate Piezo1 action). Thus, it's crucial to examine Piezo1 in epithelial cells, to discuss potential hypotheses about its role in vocal folds to guide future research. This systematic review addresses questions related to the role of Piezo1 in epithelial cells, previous mechanistic models and analytic techniques, to then speculate about its role in vocal fold homeostasis. The reviewed studies indicate that Piezo1's activation leads to the activation of various pathways. Piezo1's roles can be grouped into four categories: vascular system, cancer progression/limitation, inflammatory response, and homeostasis. Given that Piezo1 is expressed in vocal fold epithelium, its potential roles in tissue healing, homeostasis recovery, tumor growth regulation, cell migration, and epithelial cell differentiation and proliferation were discussed. This preliminary knowledge helps prompt further research on Piezo1's role in larynx epithelium healing, tumor growth regulation, and potential activation through therapeutic vibratory exercises.