title: The activity of the TRP-like channel depends on its expression system.
abstract: The Drosophila light activated TRP and TRPL channels have been a model for TRPC channel gating. Several gating mechanisms have been proposed following experiments conducted on photoreceptor and tissue cultured cells. However, conclusive evidence for any mechanism is still lacking. Here, we show that the Drosophila TRPL channel expressed in tissue cultured cells is constitutively active in S2 cells but is silent in HEK cells. Modulations of TRPL channel activity in different expression system by pharmacology or specific enzymes, which change the lipid content of the plasma membrane, resulted in conflicting effects. These findings demonstrate the difficulty in elucidating TRPC gating, as channel behavior is expression system dependent. However, clues on the gating mechanism may arise from understanding how different expression systems affect TRPC channel activation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Neurobiology, Institute of Medical Research Israel-Canada, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Shaya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lev
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: Baruch
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Minke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D015640:Ion Channel Gating; D055537:Light Signal Transduction; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D009928:Organ Specificity; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D017956:Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D050052:TRPC Cation Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D014162:Transfection; D050051:Transient Receptor Potential Channels / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D050052:TRPC Cation Channels; D050051:Transient Receptor Potential Channels; C074192:trpl protein, Drosophila