University of Michigan researchers have discovered the protein GluK2 as the key to how mammals sense cold, a finding that could impact treatments for conditions like the cold sensitivity experienced by chemotherapy patients.
“Various studies have found the proteins that sense hot, warm, even cool temperatures—but we’ve been unable to confirm what senses temperatures below about 60 degreesof millimeter-long worms that the lab studies as a model system for understanding sensory responses. “We now know that this protein serves a totally different function in the peripheral nervous system, processing temperature cues instead of chemical signals to sense cold,” said Bo Duan, U-M associate professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology and co-senior author of the study.