TRPN

TRPN was given the name "no mechanoreceptor potential C (nompC)". Since its discovery in fruit flies, TRPN homologs have been discovered and characterized in worms, frogs and zebrafish. No functions have yet been reported in vertebrates and thus in humans. TRPN appears to be responsible for functions in mechanosensory systems.

TRP channels are phylogenetically early signaling pathways (they can already be detected in yeast cells). The first TRP channel was identified in 1989 in connection with visual perception in Drosophila melanogaster. In a Drosophila mutant (trp343), it was shown that its photoreceptors responded to light stimuli only with a transient, i.e. rapidly inactivating, membrane current. In the non-mutated wild type, however, the current flow persisted as long as light hit the photoreceptor. The mutant protein -TRP- was cloned in 1989. Thus, the name "transient receptor potential" - TRP- refers to the description of a phenotype of a mutant of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. TRP channels exert important functions in primary signaling pathways for the regulated influx of Ca2+ into a cell in both vertebrates and non-vertebrates. TRP channels in humans play an important role in the sensation of different types of taste (sweet, bitter, umami) as well as in the perception of pain, heat, warmth or cold, pressure and light. It is believed that some TRP channels in the body behave like microscopic thermosensors. So far, 28 TRP channel genes have been identified in mammals (Nilius B et al. 2011).

1. Nilius B et al. (2011) The transient receptor potential family of ion channels. Genome Biol 12:218.