ABSTRACT
Neurons of the visual, auditory and vestibular systems that signal through graded changes in membrane potential rely upon synaptic ribbons for the exquisite control of neurotransmitter release. Although clearly important for tonic neurotransmission, the precise role of synaptic ribbons remains elusive. In recent years, several genetic, biochemical, electrophysiological and optical approaches have begun to shed light on the functions of these enigmatic organelles.
Subject(s)
Exocytosis/physiology , Synapses/metabolism , Synapses/ultrastructure , Animals , Eye Proteins , Humans , Synaptic Vesicles/ultrastructureABSTRACT
The capsaicin receptor (TRPV1), a heat-activated ion channel of the pain pathway, is sensitized by phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) hydrolysis after phospholipase C activation. We identify a site within the C-terminal domain of TRPV1 that is required for PIP2-mediated inhibition of channel gating. Mutations that weaken PIP2-TRPV1 interaction reduce thresholds for chemical or thermal stimuli, whereas TRPV1 channels in which this region is replaced with a lipid-binding domain from PIP2-activated potassium channels remain inhibited by PIP2. The PIP2-interaction domain therefore serves as a critical determinant of thermal threshold and dynamic sensitivity range, tuning TRPV1, and thus the sensory neuron, to appropriately detect heat under normal or pathophysiological conditions.
