Month: September 2022

VERTEBRATE TEMPERATURE DETECTION. "Several major classes of ion channels contribute to this process: (iii) leak channels, which dynamically regulate the membrane potential at rest through voltage-independent potassium efflux." https://lnkd.in/eFfEp_R View in LinkedIn

INFRARED DETECTION BY SNAKES. "Snakes possess a unique sensory system for detecting infrared radiation, enabling them to generate a ‘thermal image’ of predators or prey. Infrared signals are initially received by the pit organ, a highly specialized facial structure that is innervated by nerve fibres of the somatosensory system." https://lnkd.in/e9jVgFP View in LinkedIn

"TRPA1 orthologues from pit-bearing snakes (vipers, pythons and boas) are the most heat-sensitive vertebrate ion channels thus far identified, consistent with their role as primary transducers of infrared stimuli. Thus, snakes detect infrared signals through a mechanism involving radiant heating of the pit organ, rather than photochemical transduction." https://lnkd.in/e9jVgFP View in LinkedIn

THERMOSENSITIVITY. "Thermsensitive transient receptor potential (thermoTRP) channels serve as thermal sensors in diverse animal species." Includes our protagonist, TRP1. https://lnkd.in/erbAj5A View in LinkedIn

THREE SNAKE LINEAGES. "Despite the huge evolutionary distance – more than 30 million years – infrared-sensing snakes from the three different families co-opted the same molecular strategy to sense minute amounts of heat emanating from their prey: through functional tuning of TRPA1...snake TRPA1 has one of the lowest apparent thermal thresholds identified so far in vertebrates." https://lnkd.in/eFfEp_R View in LinkedIn

VAMPIRE HOT SPOT DETECTION. "Vampire bats have unique feeding habits as they consume only blood, which implies the ability to efficiently find a hot spot (a superficial blood vessel) on the body of their endothermic prey. At the molecular level, evolutionary specialization involved the modification of the already existing heat sensor, TRPV1." https://lnkd.in/eFfEp_R View in LinkedIn

MOSQUITO HEAT SENSING. "Host-seeking mosquitoes are maximally attracted to thermal stimuli approximating host body temperatures...We found that the cation channel TRPA1, in addition to playing a conserved role in thermoregulation and chemosensation, is required for this specialized host-selective thermotaxis in mosquitoes." https://lnkd.in/eTG-33z View in LinkedIn

SKY TAXIS are about to become a reality. A footnote to earlier postings. https://lnkd.in/eMiJkCC View in LinkedIn

TRPA1 data summary from UniProt database. It tells the story of diverse functions, activators and outcomes. https://lnkd.in/ez7x4Q2 View in LinkedIn

UNUSUAL MOLECULE. "As a temperature sensor, TRPA1 is intriguing, because while this ancient polymodal ion channel is found throughout vertebrates and invertebrates, it has acquired divergent functions over the course of evolution, such as temperature or chemical sensitivity, depending on the group of species under consideration." https://lnkd.in/e-WBvC9 View in LinkedIn