Abstract
Transient receptor potential (TRP) channel subunits form homotetramers that function in sensory transduction. Heteromeric channels also form, but their physiological subunit compositions and functions are largely unknown. We found a dominant-negative mutant of the C. elegans TRPV (vanilloid-type) subunit OCR-2 that apparently incorporates into and inactivates OCR-2 homomers as well as heteromers with the TRPV subunits OCR-1 and -4, resulting in a premature egg-laying defect. This defect is reproduced by knocking out all three OCR genes, but not by any single knockout. Thus a mixture of redundant heteromeric channels prevents premature egg laying. These channels, as well as the G-protein G alpha(o), function in neuroendocrine cells to promote release of neurotransmitters that block egg laying until eggs filling the uterus deform the neuroendocrine cells. The TRPV channel OSM-9, previously suggested to be an obligate heteromeric partner of OCR-2 in sensory neurons, is expressed in the neuroendocrine cells but has no detectable role in egg laying. Our results identify a specific set of heteromeric TRPV channels that redundantly regulate neuroendocrine function and show that a subunit combination that functions in sensory neurons is also present in neuroendocrine cells but has no detectable function in these cells.
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