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TRPC channel activation by extracellular thioredoxin

Nature volume 451, pages 69–72 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Mammalian homologues of Drosophila melanogaster transient receptor potential (TRP) are a large family of multimeric cation channels that act, or putatively act, as sensors of one or more chemical factor1,2. Major research objectives are the identification of endogenous activators and the determination of cellular and tissue functions of these channels. Here we show the activation of TRPC5 (canonical TRP 5) homomultimeric and TRPC5–TRPC1 heteromultimeric channels3,4,5 by extracellular reduced thioredoxin, which acts by breaking a disulphide bridge in the predicted extracellular loop adjacent to the ion-selectivity filter of TRPC5. Thioredoxin is an endogenous redox protein with established intracellular functions, but it is also secreted and its extracellular targets are largely unknown6,7,8,9. Particularly high extracellular concentrations of thioredoxin are apparent in rheumatoid arthritis8,10,11,12, an inflammatory joint disease that disables millions of people worldwide13. We show that TRPC5 and TRPC1 are expressed in secretory fibroblast-like synoviocytes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis, that endogenous TRPC5–TRPC1 channels of the cells are activated by reduced thioredoxin, and that blockade of the channels enhances secretory activity and prevents the suppression of secretion by thioredoxin. The data indicate the presence of a previously unrecognized ion-channel activation mechanism that couples extracellular thioredoxin to cell function.

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Figure 1: Functional disulphide bridge in TRPC5.
Figure 2: Ionic current induced by rTRX.
Figure 3: Endogenous TRPC expression and function.
Figure 4: Relevance to secretion from FLS cells.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Wellcome Trust grants to D.J.B. and A.S., and a Physiological Society Junior Fellowship to C.C. P.S. has an Overseas Research Scholarship and University Studentship, J.N. has a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council PhD studentship, Y.M. a university studentship and Y.B. a scholarship from the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education.

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Author notes

  1. Shang-Zhong Xu

    Present address: Present address: Postgraduate Medical Institute & Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU6 7RX, UK.,

  2. Shang-Zhong Xu and Piruthivi Sukumar: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Membrane and Systems Biology, Garstang Building, Faculty of Biological Sciences, and,,

    Shang-Zhong Xu, Piruthivi Sukumar, Fanning Zeng, Jing Li, Amit Jairaman, Jacqueline Naylor, Coziana Ciurtin, Yasser Majeed, Carol J. Milligan, Yahya M. Bahnasi, Eman Al-Shawaf, Lin-Hua Jiang, Asipu Sivaprasadarao & David J. Beech

  2. School of Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK ,

    Karen E. Porter

  3. Academic Unit of Musculoskeletal Disease, Chapel Allerton Hospital, Leeds LS7 4SA, UK

    Anne English & Paul Emery

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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David J. Beech.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

The file contains Supplementary Methods, Supplementary Figures 1-14 with Legends, Supplementary Results and Discussion and additional references. (PDF 1208 kb)

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Xu, SZ., Sukumar, P., Zeng, F. et al. TRPC channel activation by extracellular thioredoxin. Nature 451, 69–72 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06414

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