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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 586/15/3565    most recent jphysiol.2008.155812v1 Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Gaudet, R. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gaudet, R. Related Collections Review articles Neuroscience

¹ Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 7 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 01238, USA

Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are important in many neuronal and non-neuronal physiological processes. The past 2 years have seen much progress in the use of structural biology techniques to elucidate molecular mechanisms of TRP channel gating and regulation. Two approaches have proven fruitful: (i) a divide-and-conquer strategy has provided high-resolution structural details of TRP channel fragments although it fails to explain how these fragments are integrated in the full channel; and (ii) electron microscopy of entire TRP channels has yielded low-resolution images that provide a basis for testable models of TRP channel architecture. The results of each approach, summarized in this review, provide a preview of what the future holds in TRP channel structural biology.

(Received 23 April 2008; accepted after revision 2 June 2008; first published online 5 June 2008)
Corresponding author R. Gaudet: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 7 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 01238, USA. Email: gaudet{at}mcb.harvard.edu