A specialized pore turret in the mammalian cation channel TRPV1 is responsible for distinct and species-specific heat activation thresholds.

ABSTRACT: The transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channel is a heat-activated cation channel that plays a crucial role in ambient temperature detection and thermal homeostasis. Although several structural features of TRPV1 have been shown to be involved in heat-induced activation of the gating process, the physiological significance of only a few of these key elements has been evaluated in an evolutionary context. Here, using transient expression in HEK293 cells, electrophysiological recordings, and molecular modeling, we show that the pore turret contains both structural and functional determinants that set the heat activation thresholds of distinct TRPV1 orthologs in mammals whose body temperatures fluctuate widely. We found that TRPV1 from the bat Carollia brevicauda exhibits

SUBMITTER: Du G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7363128 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature