Fertility and TRP Channels

Since their discovery in late 1970, transient receptor potential (TRP) channels have been implicated in a variety of cellular and physiological functions (Minke, 2010). The superfamily of TRP channels consists of nearly 30 members that are organized into seven major subgroups based on their specific function and sequence similarities (Owsianik et al., 2006; Ramsey et al., 2006). With the exception of TRPN channels that are only found in invertebrates and fish, mammalian genomes contain representatives of all six subfamilies: (1) TRPV (vanilloid); (2) TRPC (canonical); (3) TRPM (melastatin); (4) TRPA (ankyrin); (5) TRPML (mucolipin); and (6) TRPP (polycystin). TRP channels play crucial regulatory roles in many physiological processes, including those associated with reproductive tissues. As calcium-permeable cation channels that respond to a variety of signals (Clapham et al., 2003; Wu et al., 2010), TRP channels exert their role as sensory detectors in both male and female gametes, and play regulatory functions in germ cell development and maturation. Recent evidence obtained from studies point to the importance of these proteins during fertilization where certain sperm TRP channels could migrate from a spermatozoon into an egg to ensure successful fertilization and embryo development. In this chapter we discuss how TRP channels can regulate both female and male fertility in different species and their specific roles.