Transient receptor potential ion channels control thermoregulatory behaviour in reptiles

Seebacher, F; Murray, SA

Transient receptor potential ion channels control thermoregulatory behaviour in reptiles

Seebacher, F Murray, SA

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: PLoS ONE, 2007, 2 (3)
Issue Date:: 2007-03-14

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Seebacher, F	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Murray, SA https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7096-1307	en_US
dc.date.available	2007-02-09	en_US
dc.date.issued	2007-03-14	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	PLoS ONE, 2007, 2 (3)	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/35873
dc.description.abstract	Biological functions are governed by thermodynamics, and animals regulate their body temperature to optimise cellular performance and to avoid harmful extremes. The capacity to sense environmental and internal temperatures is a prerequisite for the evolution of thermoregulation. However, the mechanisms that enable ectothermic vertebrates to sense heat remain unknown. The recently discovered thermal characteristics of transient receptor potential ion channels (TRP) render these proteins suitable to act as temperature sensors. Here we test the hypothesis that TRPs are present in reptiles and function to control thermoregulatory behaviour. We show that the hot-sensing TRPV1 is expressed in a crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), an agamid (Amphibolurus muricatus) and a scincid (Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii) lizard, as well as in the quail and zebrafinch (Coturnix chinensis and Poephila guttata). The TRPV1 genes from all reptiles form a unique clade that is delineated from the mammalian and the ancestral Xenopus sequences by an insertion of two amino acids. TRPV1 and the cool-sensing TRPM8 are expressed in liver, muscle (transversospinalis complex), and heart tissues of the crocodile, and have the potential to act as internal thermometer and as external temperatures sensors. Inhibition of TRPV1 and TRPM8 in C. porosus abolishes the typically reptilian shuttling behaviour between cooling and heating environments, and leads to significantly altered body temperature patterns. Our results provide the proximate mechanism of thermal selection in terrestrial ectotherms, which heralds a fundamental change in interpretation, because TRPs provide the mechanism for a tissue-specific input into the animals' thermoregulatory response. © 2007 Seebacher, Murray.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	PLoS ONE	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1371/journal.pone.0000281	en_US
dc.subject.classification	General Science & Technology	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Animals	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Quail	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Coturnix	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Reptiles	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Alligators and Crocodiles	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	DNA Primers	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Environment	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Body Temperature Regulation	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Thermodynamics	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Transient Receptor Potential Channels	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	TRPV Cation Channels	en_US
dc.title	Transient receptor potential ion channels control thermoregulatory behaviour in reptiles	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	3	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - C3 - Climate Change Cluster
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	3	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	2	en_US

Abstract:

Biological functions are governed by thermodynamics, and animals regulate their body temperature to optimise cellular performance and to avoid harmful extremes. The capacity to sense environmental and internal temperatures is a prerequisite for the evolution of thermoregulation. However, the mechanisms that enable ectothermic vertebrates to sense heat remain unknown. The recently discovered thermal characteristics of transient receptor potential ion channels (TRP) render these proteins suitable to act as temperature sensors. Here we test the hypothesis that TRPs are present in reptiles and function to control thermoregulatory behaviour. We show that the hot-sensing TRPV1 is expressed in a crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), an agamid (Amphibolurus muricatus) and a scincid (Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii) lizard, as well as in the quail and zebrafinch (Coturnix chinensis and Poephila guttata). The TRPV1 genes from all reptiles form a unique clade that is delineated from the mammalian and the ancestral Xenopus sequences by an insertion of two amino acids. TRPV1 and the cool-sensing TRPM8 are expressed in liver, muscle (transversospinalis complex), and heart tissues of the crocodile, and have the potential to act as internal thermometer and as external temperatures sensors. Inhibition of TRPV1 and TRPM8 in C. porosus abolishes the typically reptilian shuttling behaviour between cooling and heating environments, and leads to significantly altered body temperature patterns. Our results provide the proximate mechanism of thermal selection in terrestrial ectotherms, which heralds a fundamental change in interpretation, because TRPs provide the mechanism for a tissue-specific input into the animals' thermoregulatory response. © 2007 Seebacher, Murray.

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