Navigation Links
Molecular thermometers on skin cells detect heat and camphor

The human brain is like a general in a bunker. Floating in its bubble of cerebrospinal fluid, it has no direct window to the outside world, so the only way for the brain to observe, comprehend, and order the body into action is to rely on information it receives. This information comes to it through a sophisticated system of sensory neurons that connect the brain to organs like the eye, ear, nose, and mouth.

In recent years, biologists and neuroscientists have been trying to discover the basic molecules and mechanisms that underlie this complicated communication system that is our senses, and one group of researchers from The Scripps Research Institute and the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF), has been making headway in trying to understand those that mediate our sense of touch.

Touch is perhaps the most fundamental of our five senses because it works through our largest organ, the skin. Through the skin we can detect temperature, texture, and understand both pleasure and pain.

A few years ago, the Scripps Research and GNF team, which was led by Scripps Research Assistant Professor Ardem Patapoutian, was the first to clone a protein (TRPV3) that the researchers believed was involved in our ability to sense and detect warm temperature.

But while temperature-gated action of TRPV3 suggested the protein might be communicating temperature to the brain, its distribution raised some doubts. Despite expectations that temperature sensors be present in sensory neurons innervating the skin, TRPV3 protein was found in actual skin cells (keratinocytes) and not in the neurons.

Now, in the latest issue of the journal Science, the team is reporting definitive evidence that TRPV3 is indeed a temperature sensor. They have demonstrated that mice lacking the TRPV3 protein have specific deficiencies in their ability to detect temperatures.

"Are the TRPV3 proteins involved in heat sensation in the living mammal?"
'"/>

Source:Scripps Research Institute


Page: 1 2 3 4

Related biology news :

1. Molecular biology fills gaps in knowledge of bat evolution
2. Molecular machine may lead to new drugs to combat human diseases
3. Molecular Motors Cooperate In Moving Cellular Cargo, Study Shows
4. Molecular models advance the fight against malaria
5. Molecular fossils uncover link between viruses and the immune system
6. Molecular messengers perform a crucial role in the ability of injured nerve cells to heal themselves
7. Molecular steps involved in the creation of gene-silencing microRNAs identified
8. Molecular miners find pain relief drugs from the sea
9. Molecular mechanism of feather formation found
10. Molecular trigger for Huntingtons disease found
11. Molecular Partners Required For Appropriate Neuronal Gene Repression
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
TAG: Molecular thermometers skin cells detect heat and camphor

(Date:5/17/2013)... noise of the South, but the night belongs to the ... heavy from the humidity and the sounds of wildlife. ... frogs, toads and salamanders, is the center of amphibian biodiversity ... the auditorium for their symphonic choruses, the scientists of the ... have front-row seats. , Amphibians, which rely on ...
(Date:5/17/2013)... Why Tibetan antelope can live at elevations of ... research published in Nature Communications , investigators ... evidence that some genetic factors may be associated ... The data in this work will also provide ... biology of other ruminant species. , The Tibetan ...
(Date:5/17/2013)... LEMONT, Ill. An international team ... internal structure and cell movement inside a living frog ... showcases a new method to advance biological research and ... at Northwestern University and the Karlsruher Institut fr Technologie ... at the U.S. Department of Energy,s Argonne National Laboratory, ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Front-row seats to climate change 2Front-row seats to climate change 3Front-row seats to climate change 4The genome sequence of Tibetan antelope sheds new light on high-altitude adaptation 2New X-ray method shows how frog embryos could help thwart disease 2
... following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently ... Journal of Geophysical ,Research-Solid Earth (JGR-B), and ... , 1. Active faults newly identified in Pacific Northwest ... Seattle and south of Vancouver, ,British Columbia, around the ...
... of us contribute to the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing ... emissions. How we travel, what we eat, what we consume ... contribute to our carbon footprint . How, though, do ... an opportunity to find out on April 26, when Louis ...
... in the United States are obese, and in inner-city neighborhoods, ... and physical inactivity are the main culprits, there is new ... A study by Columbia University,s Mailman School of Public Health ... higher concentrations of chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAH, ...
Cached Biology News:AGU journal highlights for April 16, 2012 2AGU journal highlights for April 16, 2012 3AGU journal highlights for April 16, 2012 4AGU journal highlights for April 16, 2012 5AGU journal highlights for April 16, 2012 6AGU journal highlights for April 16, 2012 7AGU journal highlights for April 16, 2012 8Measuring our carbon footprint 2Prenatal exposure to air pollution linked to childhood obesity 2Prenatal exposure to air pollution linked to childhood obesity 3
(Date:5/17/2013)... , May 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Aridis is ... reached with Switzerland -based Kenta ... human monoclonal antibody (mAb) products, and technologies. This ... products for treatment of infections by common pathogens ... aureus , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Acinetobacter ...
(Date:5/17/2013)... 17, 2013 Rust removal is one of ... home items could be damaged. To help rust contractors make ... its no-scrubbing rust remover it called Rusterizer. It ... with 10% discount. , My Cleaning Products explained that rust ... or by staining them. The first one, it said, ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... May 16, 2013 Oven Industries, Inc. ... controllers and temperature sensors since 1964. Expertly ... in industrial control system applications. As one ... includes a generic, control loop feedback system, which helps ... used to adjust a systematic process, using a control ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... 16, 2013  HealthSparq, a trusted provider of ... largest regional health plans, will debut a new ... (AHIP) Institute 2013 conference on June 13.  The ... how health insurance companies across the country are ... marketplace demands for increased healthcare transparency. ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Aridis Pharmaceuticals Announces Acquisition of Monoclonal Antibody Products and Technologies From Kenta Biotech 2Aridis Pharmaceuticals Announces Acquisition of Monoclonal Antibody Products and Technologies From Kenta Biotech 3Organic-Based Rust Remover Cuts Down Price by 10%, My Cleaning Products Details Mechanics How to Get the Discount 2New PID Temperature Controllers Announced by Oven Industries Inc. 2HealthSparq to Reveal New Healthcare Transparency Benchmark Study at AHIP Institute 2013 2HealthSparq to Reveal New Healthcare Transparency Benchmark Study at AHIP Institute 2013 3
... National Laboratory,have discovered a way to increase the ... a portable biosensor that can address a major,concern ... the need to quickly distinguish between individuals who ... sensor components resemble a pregnancy test strip and ...
... Lexington, Kentucky, Darrell Taulbee can be found mixing up a ... grow a better Big Boy or distill a smoother bourbon, ... the Homeland Securitys Science & Technology Directorate (S&T), Taulbee sets ... Taulbee putters with this stuff to make sure another Oklahoma ...
... Good news for public health: Bioengineering researchers from the ... nanoparticle that can deliver vaccines more effectively, with fewer ... of current vaccine technologies. , Described in an ... Biotechnology, the vaccine delivery platform is a deceptively simple ...
Cached Biology Technology:Truly sick or simply scared? 2Brewing a blast-less fertilizer 2New nanoparticle vaccine is more effective but less expensive 2New nanoparticle vaccine is more effective but less expensive 3
...
[14C]Polyethylene glycol 4000, 9.25 MBq, 250 uCi. Aqueous solution containing 3% ethanol, sterilized. 370-740 MBq/g, 10-20 mCi/g.1.85 MBq/ml, 50 uCi/ml. Category: Radiochemicals &Radiation Safety, ...
Use the DUALmembrane kit 3 to carry out DUALmembrane interaction analysis and cDNA library screening to characterize interactions between integral membrane proteins and to identify novel interaction ...
Human Serum FDA Licensed US Donor Centers Sterile / Non-sterile: Sterile Filtered to 0.2 micron Information: Extensive Viral Testing ...
Biology Products: