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The Journal of Neuroscience, October 1, 2008, 28(40):10102-10110; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2740-08.2008

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Zebrafish TRPA1 Channels Are Required for Chemosensation But Not for Thermosensation or Mechanosensory Hair Cell Function

David A. Prober,¹ Steven Zimmerman,¹ Benjamin R. Myers,^2 * Brian M. McDermott Jr,^3 * Seok-Hyung Kim,^4 * Sophie Caron,¹ Jason Rihel,¹ Lilianna Solnica-Krezel,⁴ David Julius,² A. J. Hudspeth,⁵ and Alexander F. Schier¹

¹Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Broad Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, ²Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143, ³Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, ⁴Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, and ⁵Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Laboratory of Sensory Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065

Correspondence should be addressed to either David A. Prober or Alexander F. Schier, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138. Email: prober{at}fas.harvard.edu or Email: schier{at}mcb.harvard.edu

Transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channels have been implicated in detecting chemical, thermal, and mechanical stimuli in organisms ranging from mammals to Caenorhabditis elegans. It is well established that TRPA1 detects and mediates behavioral responses to chemical irritants. However, the role of TRPA1 in detecting thermal and mechanical stimuli is controversial. To further clarify the functions of TRPA1 channels in vertebrates, we analyzed their roles in zebrafish. The two zebrafish TRPA1 paralogs are expressed in sensory neurons and are activated by several chemical irritants in vitro. High-throughput behavioral analyses of trpa1a and trpa1b mutant larvae indicate that TRPA1b is necessary for behavioral responses to these chemical irritants. However, TRPA1 paralogs are not required for behavioral responses to temperature changes or for mechanosensory hair cell function in the inner ear or lateral line. These results support a role for zebrafish TRPA1 in chemical but not thermal or mechanical sensing, and establish a high-throughput system to identify genes and small molecules that modulate chemosensation, thermosensation, and mechanosensation.

Key words: nociception; temperature; mechanosensory; chemosensory; behavior; hair cell

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Received June 16, 2008; revised Aug. 22, 2008; accepted Aug. 24, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to either David A. Prober or Alexander F. Schier, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138. Email: prober{at}fas.harvard.edu or Email: schier{at}mcb.harvard.edu

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