Host: The Japanese Society of Toxicology
Name : The 49th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Toxicology
Date : June 30, 2022 - July 02, 2022
Animals on the earth survive by detecting ambient temperature, and thermosensitive TRP channels are involved. There are 28 TRP channels in 6 subfamilies in mammals, and 11 (TRPV1, TRPV2, TRPV3, TRPV4, TRPM2, TRPM3, TRPM4, TRPM5, TRPM8, TRPA1, TRPC5) are known to be thermosensitive. The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to the discovery of thermosensitive TRPV1 and TRPM8. Cation influx through the thermosensitive TRP channels causes depolarization leading to the activation of voltage-gated Na+ channels, followed by action potential generation. Because thermosensitive TRP channels have high Ca2+ permeability, Ca2+ entering the cells activates Ca2+-activated chloride channel, anoctamin 1 (ANO1), causing further depolarization through chloride efflux. Thermosensitive TRP channels are activated by plant-derived chemical substances, too. Some of the thermosensitive TRP channels are expressed in the deep organs in our body which are not normally exposed to the dynamic temperature changes, and their activities are changed a lot in the small temperature fluctuation in our body temperature. Thus, thermosensitive TRP channels are activated by a wide range of temperatures in various animals and involved in a lot of physiological functions. I will summarize the structure and function of thermosensitive TRP channels. I also would like to explain the functional interaction between thermosensitive TRP channels and ANO1. In addition, I will introduce the evolution of thermosensitive TRP channels since all the animals are supposed to survive by adapting to the ambient temperature changes in the volution process.
