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Nature 416, 52-58 (7 March 2002) | doi:10.1038/nature719; Received 4 December 2001; Accepted 23 January 2002; Published online 10 February 2002

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Identification of a cold receptor reveals a general role for TRP channels in thermosensation

David D. McKemy1,2, Werner M. Neuhausser1,2 & David Julius1

  1. Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143-0450, USA
  2. These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence to: David Julius1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to D.J. (e-mail: Email: julius@socrates.ucsf.edu). The GenBank accession number for rat CMR1 is AY072788.

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The cellular and molecular mechanisms that enable us to sense cold are not well understood. Insights into this process have come from the use of pharmacological agents, such as menthol, that elicit a cooling sensation. Here we have characterized and cloned a menthol receptor from trigeminal sensory neurons that is also activated by thermal stimuli in the cool to cold range. This cold- and menthol-sensitive receptor, CMR1, is a member of the TRP family of excitatory ion channels, and we propose that it functions as a transducer of cold stimuli in the somatosensory system. These findings, together with our previous identification of the heat-sensitive channels VR1 and VRL-1, demonstrate that TRP channels detect temperatures over a wide range and are the principal sensors of thermal stimuli in the mammalian peripheral nervous system.

  1. Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143-0450, USA
  2. These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence to: David Julius1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to D.J. (e-mail: Email: julius@socrates.ucsf.edu). The GenBank accession number for rat CMR1 is AY072788.