A heat-sensitive protein in the brain helps to detect and regulate body temperature in mice.

Previous research had suggested that the ion channel TRPM2, which allows ions to pass across cell membranes, is involved in sensing warm temperatures. Now Jan Siemens at the University of Heidelberg in Germany and his colleagues report that the channel is expressed in a part of the hypothalamus, a brain region that helps to control body temperature. When injected with a molecule that triggers fever, mice lacking TRPM2 had higher body temperatures than control animals. The team also found that activating TRPM2-expressing neurons decreased body temperature, whereas inhibiting those neurons increased it.

The authors suggest that TRPM2 helps the brain to limit the severity of a fever.

Science http://doi.org/bpzg (2016)