TRPV1 Ion Channel: Structural Features, Activity Modulators, and Therapeutic Potential

Although TRPV1 ion channel has been attracting researchers' attention for many years, its functions in animal organisms, the principles of regulation, and the involvement in pathological processes have not yet been fully clarified. Mutagenesis experiments and structural studies have identified the structural features of the channel and binding sites for its numerous ligands; however, these studies are far from conclusion. This review summarizes recent achievements in the TRPV1 research with special focus on structural and functional studies of the channel and on its ligands, which are extremely diverse in their nature and interaction specificity to TRPV1. Particular attention was given to the effects of numerous endogenous agonists and antagonists that can fine-tune the channel sensitivity to its usual activators, such as capsaicin, heat, acids, or their combination. In addition to the pain sensing not covered in this review, the TRPV1 channel was found to be involved in the regulation of many important physiological and pathological processes and, therefore, can be considered as a promising therapeutic target in the treatment of various diseases, such as pneumonia, ischemia, diabetes, epilepsy, schizophrenia, psoriasis, etc.

Peptide Blocker of Ion Channel TRPV1 Exhibits a Long Analgesic Effect in the Heat Stimulation Model

The ion channel TRPV1, which is one of the most important integrators of pain and inflammatory stimuli, is considered a promising therapeutic target in the treatment of pain conditions. In this work, we performed a comparative study of the analgesic effect in the "hot plate" test of recombinant analogues of Kunitz-type peptides from the sea anemone Heteractis crispa venom: APHC1-modulator of TRPV1 and HCRG21-a full blocker of TRPV1. As a result of biological tests, it was shown that the full blocker HCRG21, despite the higher value of 50% effective concentration of TRPV1 inhibition, had an equal analgesic ability with the APHC1 upon intramuscular administration and retained it for 13 h of observation. The analgesic effect of APHC1 at a dose of 0.1 mg/kg when administered intramuscularly developed very quickly in 5 min but lasted 3 h. The differences in the pharmacodynamic profile of the peptides are in good agreement with different mechanisms of binding to TRPV1.

Features of the pharmacological activity of polypeptide modulators on acid-sensitive ion channels in the experiment

Introduction: TRPV1 receptors play a significant physiological role. To study pharmacological activity of new agonists and antagonists is important for the development of new drugs. This paper reports on the features of polypeptide antagonists of TRPV1 based on in vivo data.

Materials and methods: The study was performed on 250 mature white ICR male mice weighing 25–30 g. Tests were conducted to evaluate the pharmacological activity and biological properties of APHC1-3 and a hybrid polypeptide A13 in thermal pain,, inflammation and body temperature tests.

Results and discussion: APHC1-3 polypeptides showed significant antinociceptive and analgesic activity in the dose range of 0.01–0.1 mg/kg, without causing hyperthermia. A single substitution of the aspartic acid residue of АРНС1 polypeptide at position 23 by transferring one asparagine residue from the cognate peptide АРНС3 led to a significant change in the properties of the molecule. A new polypeptide A13 did not alter the thermal sensitivity of the mice, but showed the most significant analgesic activity in the acid-induced pain model, unlike АРНС1. A13 inhibits TRPV1 and affects body temperature as a classic antagonist of this receptor.

Conclusion: Antagonistic properties of A13 became different from the properties of both initial analgesic polypeptides. Polypeptides APHC1-3 can be referred to as a new class of modulators of TRPV1, which produce a pronounced analgesic effect without hyperthermia.