美国密歇根大学X. Z. Shawn Xu、Bo Duan研究组发现，Kanait受体GluK2调控小鼠的冷感知。相关论文发表在2024年3月11日出版的《自然-神经科学》杂志上。

研究人员对缺乏Kanaite受体GluK2的小鼠进行了鉴定，GluK2是草履虫冷传感器GLR-3在哺乳动物中的同源物。虽然GluK2基因敲除小鼠对热和机械刺激的反应正常，但它们在感知低温方面却表现出特定的缺陷。进一步分析支持了GluK2在外周躯体感觉DRG神经元感知低温中的关键作用。该研究结果表明，GluK2-中枢神经系统中介导突触传递的谷氨酸感应化学感受器，是与外周系统共用的低温感受器。

据了解，外周躯体感觉神经元中的热敏电阻能感知各种环境温度。虽然探测低温、高温和热温的热敏电阻得到了广泛研究，但对探测低温的热敏电阻却知之甚少。虽然已经发现了几种候选的冷传感器，但没有证据表明任何一种在体内介导体感神经元感知低温，这就留下了热感觉方面的知识空白。

附：英文原文

Title: The kainate receptor GluK2 mediates cold sensing in mice

Author: Cai, Wei, Zhang, Wenwen, Zheng, Qin, Hor, Chia Chun, Pan, Tong, Fatima, Mahar, Dong, Xinzhong, Duan, Bo, Xu, X. Z. Shawn

Issue&Volume: 2024-03-11

Abstract: Thermosensors expressed in peripheral somatosensory neurons sense a wide range of environmental temperatures. While thermosensors detecting cool, warm and hot temperatures have all been extensively characterized, little is known about those sensing cold temperatures. Though several candidate cold sensors have been proposed, none has been demonstrated to mediate cold sensing in somatosensory neurons in vivo, leaving a knowledge gap in thermosensation. Here we characterized mice lacking the kainate-type glutamate receptor GluK2, a mammalian homolog of the Caenorhabditis elegans cold sensor GLR-3. While GluK2 knockout mice respond normally to heat and mechanical stimuli, they exhibit a specific deficit in sensing cold but not cool temperatures. Further analysis supports a key role for GluK2 in sensing cold temperatures in somatosensory DRG neurons in the periphery. Our results reveal that GluK2—a glutamate-sensing chemoreceptor mediating synaptic transmission in the central nervous system—is co-opted as a cold-sensing thermoreceptor in the periphery.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01585-8

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-024-01585-8