TREKing noxious thermosensation

Abstract

The ability to sense environmental temperature as pleasant or unpleasant is associated with the activity of thermo-sensitive neurons in the peripheral nervous system. Differential sensation of pleasant environmental temperatures (warm and cool) versus unpleasant and noxious (cold and hot) temperatures requires the definition of thresholds and temperature ranges for activating thermonociceptors. In this issue of The EMBO Journal, a study by Noël et al (2009) entitled 'The mechano-activated Kφ channels TRAAK and TREK-1 control both warm and cold perception' shows that the potassium leak channels TREK-1 and TRAAK have an important regulatory role in noxious thermonociceptors to ensure a high-enough activation threshold that does not interfere with the sensing of innocuous (warm and cool) temperature, but low enough in order to avoid tissue damage. © 2009 European Molecular Biology Organization.