Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2010;661:109-22. doi: 10.1007/978-1-60761-500-2_7.
The transient receptor potential (TRP) gene superfamily, which consists of 7 subfamilies with at least 28 mammalian homologues, is known to encode a wide variety of cation channels with diverse biophysical properties, activation mechanisms, and physiological functions. Recent studies have identified multiple TRP channel subtypes, belonging to the canonical (TRPC), melastatin-related (TRPM), and vanilloid-related (TRPV) subfamilies, in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). They operate as specific Ca(2+) pathways responsive to stimuli, including Ca(2+) store depletion, receptor activation, reactive oxygen species, growth factors, and mechanical stress. Increasing evidence suggests that these channels play crucial roles in agonist-induced pulmonary vasoconstriction, hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction, smooth muscle cell proliferation, vascular remodeling, and pulmonary arterial hypertension. This chapter highlighted and discussed these putative physiological functions of TRP channels in pulmonary vasculatures. Since Ca(2+) ions regulate many cellular processes via specific Ca(2+) signals, future investigations of these novel channels will likely uncover more important regulatory mechanisms of pulmonary vascular functions in health and in disease states.
瞬时受体电位 (TRP) 基因超家族由至少 28 种哺乳动物同源物组成的 7 个亚家族组成，已知其编码具有多种生物物理特性、激活机制和生理功能的各种阳离子通道。最近的研究在肺动脉平滑肌细胞 (PASMC) 中鉴定了多种属于经典 (TRPC)、melastatin 相关 (TRPM) 和香草素相关 (TRPV) 亚家族的 TRP 通道亚型。它们作为特定的 Ca(2+) 途径发挥作用，对刺激物有反应，包括 Ca(2+) 储存耗竭、受体激活、活性氧、生长因子和机械应激。越来越多的证据表明，这些通道在激动剂诱导的肺血管收缩、低氧性肺血管收缩、平滑肌细胞增殖、血管重塑和肺动脉高压中发挥关键作用。本章重点介绍并讨论了 TRP 通道在肺血管中的这些假定的生理功能。由于 Ca(2+) 离子通过特定的 Ca(2+) 信号调节许多细胞过程，因此对这些新型通道的未来研究可能会揭示肺血管功能在健康和疾病状态下的更多重要调节机制。
