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Papers of the Week


Papers: 10 Jul 2021 - 16 Jul 2021


Animal Studies, Pharmacology/Drug Development


2021 Jul 08


Nat Struct Mol Biol

Editor's Pick

Structural mechanism of heat-induced opening of a temperature-sensitive TRP channel.

Authors

Nadezhdin KD, Neuberger A, Trofimov YA, Krylov NA, Sinica V, Kupko N, Vlachova V, Zakharian E, Efremov RG, Sobolevsky AI
Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2021 Jul 08.
PMID: 34239124.

Abstract

Numerous physiological functions rely on distinguishing temperature through temperature-sensitive transient receptor potential channels (thermo-TRPs). Although the function of thermo-TRPs has been studied extensively, structural determination of their heat- and cold-activated states has remained a challenge. Here, we present cryo-EM structures of the nanodisc-reconstituted wild-type mouse TRPV3 in three distinct conformations: closed, heat-activated sensitized and open states. The heat-induced transformations of TRPV3 are accompanied by changes in the secondary structure of the S2-S3 linker and the N and C termini and represent a conformational wave that links these parts of the protein to a lipid occupying the vanilloid binding site. State-dependent differences in the behavior of bound lipids suggest their active role in thermo-TRP temperature-dependent gating. Our structural data, supported by physiological recordings and molecular dynamics simulations, provide an insight for understanding the molecular mechanism of temperature sensing.