title: Transient Receptor Potential Cation Channel Subfamily Vanilloid Member 3 is not Involved in Plasma Membrane Stretch-induced Intracellular Calcium Signaling in Merkel Cells.
abstract: Merkel cells (MCs), which form part of the MC-neurite complex, making contact with sensory afferents to drive mechanosensory transduction mechanisms, express transient receptor potential (TRP) cation channel subfamily vanilloid (V) members 1, 2, and 4, as well as ankyrin subfamily member 1. While these proteins are involved in sensing plasma membrane stretch, less is known about the functional properties of TRPV subfamily member 3 (TRPV3) during membrane stretch in MCs. The aim of this study was to determine whether TRPV3 channels were involved in mechanosensory activity by measuring intracellular free Ca(2+) concentrations ([Ca(2+)]i) in MCs isolated from hamster buccal mucosa. Application of a hypotonic extracellular solution to quinacrine-positive MCs elicited a transient increase in [Ca(2+)]i. When TRPV3 channel antagonist 2,2-diphenyltetrahydrofuran was added to the hypotonic extracellular solution, however, no effect was observed on hypotonic stimulation-induced increase in [Ca(2+)]i. These results suggest that TRPV3 channels are not involved in the mechanosensory mechanism during membrane stretch in MCs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Tokyo Dental College.
authors.forename: Asuka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Higashikawa
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Maki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ogura
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mochizuki
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sase
authors.forename: Akinori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shinya
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobune
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Furuya
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shibukawa
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tazaki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium; D020013:Calcium Signaling; D002462:Cell Membrane; D006224:Cricetinae; D018862:Merkel Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D050916:TRPV Cation Channels / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D050916:TRPV Cation Channels; D002118:Calcium