Sequence and structural conservation reveal fingerprint residues in TRP channels

Transient receptor potential (TRP) proteins are a large family of cation-selective channels, surpassed in variety only by voltage-gated potassium channels. Detailed molecular mechanisms governing how membrane voltage, ligand binding, or temperature can induce conformational changes promoting the open state in TRP channels are still a matter of debate. Aiming to unveil distinctive structural features common to the transmembrane domains within the TRP family, we performed phylogenetic reconstruction, sequence statistics, and structural analysis over a large set of TRP channel genes. Here, we report an exceptionally conserved set of residues. This fingerprint is composed of twelve residues localized at equivalent three-dimensional positions in TRP channels from the different subtypes. Moreover, these amino acids are arranged in three groups, connected by a set of aromatics located at the core of the transmembrane structure. We hypothesize that differences in the connectivity between these different groups of residues harbor the apparent differences in coupling strategies used by TRP subgroups.