title: Heteromerization of TRP channel subunits: extending functional diversity.
abstract: Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are widely found throughout the animal kingdom. By serving as cellular sensors for a wide spectrum of physical and chemical stimuli, they play crucial physiological roles ranging from sensory transduction to cell cycle modulation. TRP channels are tetrameric protein complexes. While most TRP subunits can form functional homomeric channels, heteromerization of TRP channel subunits of either the same subfamily or different subfamilies has been widely observed. Heteromeric TRP channels exhibit many novel properties compared to their homomeric counterparts, indicating that co-assembly of TRP channel subunits has an important contribution to the diversity of TRP channel functions.
authors.affiliation: Lab of Biomedical Optics, College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116023, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Changsen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017089:Ankyrin Repeat; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D054730:Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D021122:Protein Subunits; D050052:TRPC Cation Channels / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D021122:Protein Subunits; D050052:TRPC Cation Channels