Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia; The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Australia.
Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia; The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Australia; Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Cell Rep. 2020 Jul 21;32(3):107935. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107935.
Transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) is a non-selective cation channel, broadly expressed throughout the body. Despite its expression in the mammalian brain, little is known about the contribution of TRPA1 to cortical function. Here, we characterize how TRPA1 affects sensory information processing in two cortical areas in mice: the primary vibrissal (whisker) somatosensory cortex (vS1) and the primary visual cortex (V1). In vS1, local activation of TRPA1 by allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) increases the ongoing activity of neurons and their evoked response to vibrissal stimulation, producing a positive gain modulation. The gain modulation is reversed by TRPA1 inhibitor HC-030031 and is absent in TRPA1 knockout mice. Similarly, in V1, TRPA1 activation increases the gain of direction and orientation selectivity. Linear decoding of V1 population activity confirms faster and more reliable encoding of visual signals under TRPA1 activation. Overall, our findings reveal a physiological role for TRPA1 in enhancing sensory signals in the mammalian cortex.
瞬时受体电位锚蛋白 1（TRPA1）是一种非选择性阳离子通道，广泛表达于全身。尽管它在哺乳动物大脑中有表达，但对于 TRPA1 对皮质功能的贡献知之甚少。在这里，我们描述了 TRPA1 如何影响小鼠两个皮质区域的感觉信息处理：初级触须体感皮层（vS1）和初级视觉皮层（V1）。在 vS1 中，丙烯基异硫氰酸酯（AITC）局部激活 TRPA1 会增加神经元的持续活动及其对触须刺激的诱发反应，产生正增益调制。TRPA1 抑制剂 HC-030031 可逆转这种增益调制，而 TRPA1 敲除小鼠则不存在这种调制。类似地，在 V1 中，TRPA1 的激活增加了方向和方位选择性的增益。V1 群体活动的线性解码证实，在 TRPA1 激活下，视觉信号的编码更快且更可靠。总的来说，我们的发现揭示了 TRPA1 在增强哺乳动物皮质感觉信号中的生理作用。
