TRPV3 is a calcium-permeable temperature-sensitive cation channel

Transient receptor potential (TRP) proteins are cation-selective channels that function in processes as diverse as sensation and vasoregulation. Mammalian TRP channels that are gated by heat and capsaicin (>43 degrees C; TRPV1 (ref. 1)), noxious heat (>52 degrees C; TRPV2 (ref. 2)), and cooling (< 22 degrees C; TRPM8 (refs 3, 4)) have been cloned; however, little is known about the molecular determinants of temperature sensing in the range between approximately 22 degrees C and 40 degrees C. Here we have identified a member of the vanilloid channel family, human TRPV3 (hTRPV3) that is expressed in skin, tongue, dorsal root ganglion, trigeminal ganglion, spinal cord and brain. Increasing temperature from 22 degrees C to 40 degrees C in mammalian cells transfected with hTRPV3 elevated intracellular calcium by activating a nonselective cationic conductance. As in published recordings from sensory neurons, the current was steeply dependent on temperature, sensitized with repeated heating, and displayed a marked hysteresis on heating and cooling. On the basis of these properties, we propose that hTRPV3 is thermosensitive in the physiological range of temperatures between TRPM8 and TRPV1.