Basic Section-Research Reports
Japanese traditional medicine Daikenchuto (TJ–100) selectively activates TRPV1 leading to ANO1 interaction in heterologous expression systems
2026 Volume 41 Issue 1 Pages 98-109
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2026 Volume 41 Issue 1 Pages 98-109
TJ–100 (also called daikenchuto) is a multicomponent Japanese traditional medicine, which is widely used for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders and postoperative bowel dysfunction. Previous studies have suggested that TJ–100 enhances intestinal blood flow and intestinal motility, but the direct ion–channel targets of TJ–100 remain incompletely understood. Several constituents of TJ–100, including hydroxy–α–sanshool, [6]–shogaol, and [6]–gingerol, have been reported to affect transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) or transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) channels. In primary sensory neurons, TRPV1 functionally interacts with anoctamin 1 (ANO1, also called TMEM16A), and this interaction enhances neuronal excitability. However, it is unclear whether TJ–100 directly activates TRPV1, subsequently inducing this TRPV1 ⁄ ANO1 functional interaction. In this study, we examined the effects of whole TJ–100 extract using whole–cell patch–clamp recordings in HEK293T cells expressing TRP channels and ANO1. TJ–100 induced TRPV1–dependent currents that were suppressed by capsazepine and absent in mock–transfected cells. In TRPV1 ⁄ ANO1 co–expressing cells, TJ–100 induced extracellular Ca2+–dependent current amplification without directly modulating ANO1. TJ–100 did not evoke detectable TRPA1 currents or modulate TRPV4 currents under the heterologous expression conditions investigated. In addition, hydroxy–α–sanshool evoked only weak TRPV1 currents at 1 mM, whereas the ginger–derived constituents [6]–shogaol and [6]–gingerol induced robust TRPV1 currents at 10 µM. These findings identified a TRPV1–centered, channel–level action of TJ–100 and highlight ginger–derived constituents as potential contributors to TJ–100–induced TRPV1 activation.
