Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

TRPV3 is a calcium-permeable temperature-sensitive cation channel

Abstract

Transient receptor potential (TRP) proteins are cation-selective channels that function in processes as diverse as sensation and vasoregulation. Mammalian TRP channels that are gated by heat and capsaicin (>43 °C; TRPV1 (ref. 1)), noxious heat (>52 °C; TRPV2 (ref. 2)), and cooling (< 22 °C; TRPM8 (refs 3, 4)) have been cloned; however, little is known about the molecular determinants of temperature sensing in the range between 22 °C and 40 °C. Here we have identified a member of the vanilloid channel family, human TRPV3 (hTRPV3) that is expressed in skin, tongue, dorsal root ganglion, trigeminal ganglion, spinal cord and brain. Increasing temperature from 22 °C to 40 °C in mammalian cells transfected with hTRPV3 elevated intracellular calcium by activating a nonselective cationic conductance. As in published recordings from sensory neurons, the current was steeply dependent on temperature, sensitized with repeated heating, and displayed a marked hysteresis on heating and cooling5,6,7,8,9,10. On the basis of these properties, we propose that hTRPV3 is thermosensitive in the physiological range of temperatures between TRPM8 and TRPV1.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Deduced primary amino acid sequence of hTRPV3 and alignment with hTRPV1 and hTRPV2.
Figure 2: In situ hybridization of monkey tissue sections showing expression of TRPV3 in central and peripheral neurons and in the skin.
Figure 3: Temperature-activated currents and [Ca2+]i increases in hTRPV3-expressing CHO-K1 cells. *
Figure 4: Temperature-activated hTRPV3 currents. *
Figure 5: Temperature-dependent gating of IhTRPV3.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. * Figures 3e and 4d were published incorrectly in the AOP version of this paper on 23 June 2002. In the AOP publication, the blue trace in Fig. 3e was labelled incorrectly as 'NMDG+ (30 mM Ca2+)' and the red trace was labelled incorrectly as 'NMDG+ (0 mM Ca2+)'. Likewise, in Fig. 4d, the second trace from the top was incorrectly labelled as '+60 mV'. These errors were corrected on 11 July 2002.

References

  1. Caterina, M. J. et al. The capsaicin receptor: a heat-activated ion channel in the pain pathway. Nature 389, 816–824 (1997)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Caterina, M. J., Rosen, T. A., Tominaga, M., Brake, A. J. & Julius, D. A capsaicin-receptor homologue with a high threshold for noxious heat. Nature 398, 436–441 (1999)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. McKemy, D. D., Neuhausser, W. M. & Julius, D. Identification of a cold receptor reveals a general role for TRP channels in thermosensation. Nature 416, 52–58 (2002)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Peier, A. M. et al. A TRP channel that senses cold stimuli and menthol. Cell 108, 705–715 (2002)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Spray, D. C. Cutaneous temperature receptors. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 48, 625–638 (1986)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Reichling, D. B. & Levine, J. D. Heat transduction in rat sensory neurons by calcium-dependent activation of a cation channel. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 94, 7006–7011 (1997)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Gotoh, H., Akatsuka, H. & Suto, K. Warm cells revealed by microfluorimetry of Ca2+ in cultured dorsal root ganglion neurons. Brain Res. 796, 319–322 (1998)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Cesare, P., Moriondo, A., Vellani, V. & McNaughton, P. A. Ion channels gated by heat. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 96, 7658–7663 (1999)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hori, A., Minato, K. & Kobayashi, S. Warming-activated channels of warm-sensitive neurons in rat hypothalamic slices. Neurosci. Lett. 275, 93–96 (1999)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Liu, L. & Simon, S. A. Capsaicin, acid and heat-evoked currents in rat trigeminal ganglion neurons; relationship to functional VR1 receptors. Physiol. Behav. 69, 363–378 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Brengelmann, G. L. in Textbook of Physiology Volume 2: Circulation, Respiration, Body Fluids, Metabolism, and Endocrinology (eds Patton, H. D., Fuchs, A. F., Hille, B., Scher, A. M. & Steiner, R.) 1584–1596, (W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, 1989)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Hille, B. Ion Channels of Excitable Membranes (Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts, 2001)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Möller, S., Croning, M. D. & Apweiler, R. Evaluation of methods for the prediction of membrane spanning regions. Bioinformatics 17, 646–653 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Tominaga, M. et al. The cloned capsaicin receptor integrates multiple pain-producing stimuli. Neuron 21, 531–543 (1998)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Fundin, B. T., Rice, F. L., Pfaller, K. & Arvidsson, J. The innervation of the mystacial pad in the adult rat studied by anterograde transport of HRP conjugates. Exp. Brain Res. 99, 233–246 (1994)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Kanzaki, M. et al. Translocation of a calcium-permeable cation channel induced by insulin-like growth factor-1. Nature Cell. Biol. 1, 165–170 (1999)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Liedtke, W. et al. Vanilloid receptor-related osmotically activated channel (VR-OAC), a candidate vertebrate osmoreceptor. Cell 103, 525–535 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Strotmann, R., Harteneck, C., Nunnenmacher, K., Schultz, G. & Plant, T. D. OTRPC4, a nonselective cation channel that confers sensitivity to extracellular osmolarity. Nature Cell Biol. 2, 695–702 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Watanabe, H. et al. Activation of TRPV4 channels (hVRL-2/mTRP12) by phorbol derivatives. J. Biol. Chem. 4, 13569–13577 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Prakriya, M. & Lewis, R. S. Separation and characterization of currents through store-operated CRAC channels and Mg2+-inhibited cation (MIC) channels. J. Gen. Physiol. 119, 487–508 (2002)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Nadler, M. J. et al. LTRPC7 is a Mg·ATP-regulated divalent cation channel required for cell viability. Nature 411, 590–595 (2001)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Runnels, L. W., Yue, L. & Clapham, D. E. TRP-PLIK, a bifunctional protein with kinase and ion channel activities. Science 291, 1043–1047 (2001)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Jordt, S. E. & Julius, D. Molecular basis for species-specific sensitivity to ‘hot’ chili peppers. Cell 108, 421–430 (2002)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. DeCoursey, T. E. & Cherny, V. V. Temperature dependence of voltage-gated H+ currents in human neutrophils, rat alveolar epithelial cells, and mammalian phagocytes. J. Gen. Physiol. 112, 503–522 (1998)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Davis, J. B. et al. Vanilloid receptor-1 is essential for inflammatory thermal hyperalgesia. Nature 405, 183–187 (2000)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Vyklicky, L. et al. Temperature coefficient of membrane currents induced by noxious heat in sensory neurones in the rat. J. Physiol. 517, 181–192 (1999)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Andrew, D. & Craig, A. D. Spinothalamic lamina I neurones selectively responsive to cutaneous warming in cats. J. Physiol. 537, 489–495 (2001)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Nagy, I. & Rang, H. P. Similarities and differences between the responses of rat sensory neurons to noxious heat and capsaicin. J. Neurosci. 19, 10647–10655 (1999)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Qu, Y. et al. Differential modulation of sodium channel gating and persistent sodium currents by the β1, β2, and β3 subunits. Mol. Cell Neurosci. 18, 570–580 (2001)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Lewis, C. A. Ion-concentration dependence of the reversal potential and the single channel conductance of ion channels at the frog neuromuscular junction. J. Physiol. 286, 417–445 (1979)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank U. Berger, L. Yue, X. Wei, W. Yu, A. Kabakov, L. Runnels, J. Pulido, W. Cao and H. Ferriera for assistance. We are grateful to S. Glucksmann, O. Tayber, L. DeFelice and members of Clapham laboratory for discussion and comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David E. Clapham.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

D.L., P.G., J.L., I.S.-S., P.S.D., Y.X. and R.C. were all employees of Millennium Pharmaceuticals during the programme of work, and these individuals may hold stocks in Millennium.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Xu, H., Ramsey, I., Kotecha, S. et al. TRPV3 is a calcium-permeable temperature-sensitive cation channel. Nature 418, 181–186 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature00882

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature00882

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing