Montell Craig
Department of Biological Chemistry, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Cell Calcium. 2003 May-Jun;33(5-6):409-17. doi: 10.1016/s0143-4160(03)00053-8.
The transient receptor potential (TRP) superfamily is subdivided into four main classes of cation channels, TRPC, TRPV, TRPM and TRPN, each of which includes members in worms, flies, mice and humans. While the biophysical features of many of the mammalian channels have been described, relatively little is known concerning the biological roles of these channels. Forward genetic screens in Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans have led to the identification of the founding members of each of these four subfamilies. Moreover, phenotypic analyses of invertebrate mutants have contributed greatly to our understanding of the roles of TRP proteins. A recurring theme is that many of these proteins function in sensory signaling processes ranging from vision to olfaction, osmosensation, light touch, social feeding, and temperature- and mechanically-induced nociception. In addition, at least one invertebrate TRP protein is required for cell division. As many of these functions may be conserved among the mammalian TRPs, the invertebrate TRPs offer valuable genetic handles for characterizing the functions of these cation channels in vivo.
瞬时受体电位（TRP）超家族可细分为阳离子通道的四个主要类别，即TRPC、TRPV、TRPM和TRPN，每个类别在蠕虫、果蝇、小鼠和人类中均有成员。虽然许多哺乳动物通道的生物物理特性已被描述，但对于这些通道的生物学作用却知之甚少。在黑腹果蝇和秀丽隐杆线虫中进行的正向遗传学筛选已导致鉴定出这四个亚家族中每个亚家族的创始成员。此外，对无脊椎动物突变体的表型分析极大地促进了我们对TRP蛋白作用的理解。一个反复出现的主题是，这些蛋白质中的许多在从视觉到嗅觉、渗透压感知、轻触觉、社交进食以及温度和机械诱导的伤害感受等感觉信号传导过程中发挥作用。此外，细胞分裂需要至少一种无脊椎动物TRP蛋白。由于这些功能中的许多可能在哺乳动物TRP中保守，无脊椎动物TRP为在体内表征这些阳离子通道的功能提供了有价值的遗传手段。
