Novel temperature activation cell-based assay on thermo-TRP ion channels

Abstract

The precise temperature control of the ABI Prism 7900HT Sequence Detection System designed for detection of fluorescence of a biological sample in real-time PCR assays (TaqMan assays) was used to activate Thermo-TRP ion channels, enabling a novel 384-/96-well plate-based assay. Functional pharmacology was verified against the temperature activation using intracellular calcium fluorescence as a measure of ion channel activity. The assay is applicable to both heterologous expression systems and dorsal root ganglia primary cells. This will benefit several analgesic drug discovery programs searching for new Thermo-TRP modulators.