PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2021-1354, acronym EvoM8, is a research project funded by the Romanian Government (UEFISCDI), scheduled over 24 months (May 2022 – May 2024).

Abstract

We are familiar with pleasant cool sensations, painful cold or with the sensations elicited by cold-mimetic compounds such as menthol. All these sensitivities are mediated by the Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin type 8 (TRPM8) ion channel, which was extensively investigated in mammals, where its roles in both innocuous and noxious cold sensing are currently well established. In poikilothermic animals, temperature transduction is crucial for their behavioral thermoregulation. The most prominent and diverse group of poikilotherms, reptiles (Reptilia without Aves), were not the subject of TRPM8 cloning or gene synthesis (at the date of the project proposal, 2021).

The proposed study shall heterologously express reptile TRPM8 from three species and perform a functional comparison against mammalian and avian orthologs, by testing temperature activation and pharmacology.

The project’s main aims are characterizing the reptile TRPM8 orthologs in vitro and in silico and finding the molecular determinants that explain the putative functional differences between reptilian and mammalian TRPM8.

Project team

Project director, Associate Prof. Dr. Tudor Șelescu

Associate Prof. Dr. Maria Mernea

Assistant Prof. Dr. Alexandra Manolache