title: Thermoreceptors and thermosensitive afferents.
abstract: Cutaneous thermosensation plays an important role in thermal regulation and detection of potentially harmful thermal stimuli. Multiple classes of primary afferents are responsive to thermal stimuli. Afferent nerve fibers mediating the sensation of non-painful warmth or cold seem adapted to convey thermal information over a particular temperature range. In contrast, nociceptive afferents are often activated by both, painful cold and heat stimuli. The transduction mechanisms engaged by thermal stimuli have only recently been discovered. Transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channels that can be activated by temperatures over specific ranges potentially provide the molecular basis for thermosensation. However, non-TRP mechanisms are also likely to contribute to the transduction of thermal stimuli. This review summarizes findings regarding the transduction proteins and the primary afferents activated by innocuous and noxious cold and heat.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
authors.forename: Raf J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Schepers
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ringkamp
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D013696:Temperature; D013823:Thermoreceptors / Q000502:physiology*; D013697:Thermosensing / Q000502:physiology*; D050051:Transient Receptor Potential Channels / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D050051:Transient Receptor Potential Channels