Elsevier

Kidney International

Volume 73, Issue 7, 1 April 2008, Pages 811-815
Kidney International

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Contribution of TRPV channels to osmosensory transduction, thirst, and vasopressin release

https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ki.5002788Get rights and content
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Systemic osmoregulation is an integrated physiological process through which water intake and excretion are continuously balanced against salt intake and excretion to maintain the osmolality of the extracellular fluid near an optimal ‘set-point’ value. The behaviors (that is, thirst and sodium appetite) and renal responses (diuresis and natriuresis) that are modulated to mediate osmoregulatory homeostasis are mainly controlled by the nervous system. Appropriate regulation of these parameters depends in large part on specialized osmosensitive neurons, termed osmoreceptors, which convert changes in plasma osmolality into electrical signals that ultimately modulate effector functions to achieve homeostasis. Previous work has shown that mechanosensitive cation channels expressed in osmoreceptor neurons play a key role in the process of osmosensory transduction. Although the molecular identity of these channels remains unknown, a growing body of evidence, reviewed here, indicates that members of the transient receptor potential vanilloid family of ion channels may contribute to osmosensory transduction and to homeostatic responses implicated in the control of water balance.

KEYWORDS

TRPV
vasopressin
thirst
osmoreceptors
osmoregulation

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