ABSTRACT
Distribution of TRPA1 in the Inner Ear................................................................164 Functional Tests of TRPA1 in the Inner Ear ........................................................165 Comparing Channel Properties of TRPA1 and of the Hair Cell Transducer.......166 Distribution of TRPA1 in Sensory Ganglia ..........................................................169 The Function of TRPA1 in Nociceptors ...............................................................170 A Channel Property of TRPA1 for Nociception...................................................172 TRPA1 in Invertebrates .........................................................................................172 Note........................................................................................................................173 References..............................................................................................................173
TRPA1, initially called P120 and ANKTM1, was originally described as a downregulated protein in mesenchymal tumor cells and was detected in cultured fibroblasts but lost upon oncogenic transformation, although no expression in healthy tissues was described (Schenker and Trueb, 1998; Jaquemar et al., 1999). With in situ hibridization, we found mouse TRPA1 mRNA absent from most major organs (brain, heart, liver, kidneys, skeletal muscles, lungs, spleen, and testes, as well as whisker pad skin and superior cervical ganglia), but present in the inner ear and in certain peripheral sensory ganglia: dorsal root (DRG), trigeminal (TG), and nodose (Nagata et al., 2005). This very restricted pattern of expression suggests specific roles unique to sensory function.
