‘Modulation of activity of temperature-sensitive ion channels’

Peter Anthony McNaughton.

Work in Dr. McNaughton’s laboratory has elucidated the molecular mechanisms by which heat pain detection is modulated, but less is known about the modulation of cold detection. The Belmonte/Viana lab has specialized in the physiology of cold detection at the molecular, cellular and whole-animal level. Preliminary experiments in an ongoing collaboration between both labs have shown that the modulation of cold detection is completely different from modulation of heat detection.

The main aim of the collaboration proposed here will be to elucidate how the temperature threshold of cold-sensitive ion channels is modulated at the molecular level, and investigate the relevance for the differences between modulation of heat-sensitive and ion channels for cold sensation at the whole-animal level. We will use a variety of techniques ranging from site-directed mutagenesis of ion channels, and the study of their properties in expression systems by whole-cell patch clamp and calcium imaging, through similar experiments on isolated pain-sensitive neurons, to studies of cold sensation in intact animal and human subjects. Facilities for these experiments are excellent in the Belmonte/Viana lab in Alicante, and the combination of the expertise present there with the experience of McNaughton’s lab in similar studies on heat-sensitive channels will provide a powerful combination to address the problem.