SENSORY ION CHANNELS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The TRP family of non-selective cation channels represents one of the most important classes of ion channels for human physiology (Montell, 2005a; Montell, 2005b), and constitutes a major class of drug targets. Those studied by Wensel included TRPV1 (95 kDa), the receptor for painful heat that also senses the active ingredi-ent in hot chili peppers, capsaicin, TRPV2, another heat sensor, and TRPY1, an ion channel of the yeast vacuole that releases calcium into the cytoplasm in response to osmotic stress. Wensel and colleagues have used cryo-EM and single particle analysis to determine structures of ion channels of the TRP family.