Recent years have seen great advances in the molecular description of sensory neurobiology. Of the five popularly characterized senses - sight, hearing, taste, smeli, and touch - touch is among the most varied and perhaps least understood. Within this modality is the ability to sense mechanical forces, chemical stimuli, and temperature, and the molecules that mediate this ability have been a long-standing mystery. My group and others have recently discovered ion channels that are activated by different thresholds of temperature, and might enable sensory neurons to convey temperature information. Among these ion channels is TRPV3, which senses warm temperatures and is expressed in the skin. Here we use genetic and biochemical tools to test if TRPV3 and its close homologs play an essential role in thermosensation and pain.
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| Dhaka, Ajay; Uzzell, Valerie; Dubin, Adrienne E et al. (2009) TRPV1 is activated by both acidic and basic pH. J Neurosci 29:153-8 |
| Schmidt, Manuela; Dubin, Adrienne E; Petrus, Matt J et al. (2009) Nociceptive signals induce trafficking of TRPA1 to the plasma membrane. Neuron 64:498-509 |
| Dhaka, Ajay; Earley, Taryn J; Watson, James et al. (2008) Visualizing cold spots: TRPM8-expressing sensory neurons and their projections. J Neurosci 28:566-75 |
| Bandell, Michael; Macpherson, Lindsey J; Patapoutian, Ardem (2007) From chills to chilis: mechanisms for thermosensation and chemesthesis via thermoTRPs. Curr Opin Neurobiol 17:490-7 |
| Dhaka, Ajay; Murray, Amber N; Mathur, Jayanti et al. (2007) TRPM8 is required for cold sensation in mice. Neuron 54:371-8 |
