FRET analysis of the temperature-induced structural changes in human TRPV3

Transient receptor potential vanilloid member 3 (TRPV3) is an ion channel that plays a critical role in temperature sensing in skin. There have been active studies on how TRPV3, which is also known as one of the temperature-sensitive transient receptor potential (thermoTRP) channels, responds to temperature. However, the previous studies were mostly based on TRPV3 originating from mice or rats. Here, we focus on human TRPV3 (hTRPV3) and show that which domain of hTRPV3 undergoes conformational changes as temperature increases by Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay. During the heat-induced activation of hTRPV3, the linker domain close to C-terminus, that is, the C-terminal domain shows a largest structural change whereas there is little change in the ankyrin repeat domain (ARD). Interestingly, the activation of hTRPV3 by an agonist shows structural change patterns that are completely different from those observed during activation by heat; we observe structural changes in ARD and S2–S3 linker after ligand stimulation whereas relatively little change is observed when stimulated by heat. Our results provide insight into the thermal activation of hTRPV3 channel.