| First Author | Feketa VV | Year | 2020 |
| Journal | Elife | Volume | 9 |
| PubMed ID | 32270761 | Mgi Jnum | J:289058 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6435438 | Doi | 10.7554/eLife.55370 |
| Citation | Feketa VV, et al. (2020) CNGA3 acts as a cold sensor in hypothalamic neurons. Elife 9:e55370 |
| abstractText | Most mammals maintain their body temperature around 37 degrees C, whereas in hibernators it can approach 0 degrees C without triggering a thermogenic response. The remarkable plasticity of the thermoregulatory system allowed mammals to thrive in variable environmental conditions and occupy a wide range of geographical habitats, but the molecular basis of thermoregulation remains poorly understood. Here we leverage the thermoregulatory differences between mice and hibernating thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) to investigate the mechanism of cold sensitivity in the preoptic area (POA) of the hypothalamus, a critical thermoregulatory region. We report that, in comparison to squirrels, mice have a larger proportion of cold-sensitive neurons in the POA. We further show that mouse cold-sensitive neurons express the cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel CNGA3, and that mouse, but not squirrel, CNGA3 is potentiated by cold. Our data reveal CNGA3 as a hypothalamic cold sensor and a molecular marker to interrogate the neuronal circuitry underlying thermoregulation. |
