1.
Nat Med
; 16(12): 1396-9, 2010 Dec.
Artigo
em Inglês
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21076394
RESUMO
Basal tearing is crucial to maintaining ocular surface wetness. Corneal cold thermoreceptors sense small oscillations in ambient temperature and change their discharge accordingly. Deletion of the cold-transducing ion channel Transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M member 8 (TRPM8) in mice abrogates cold responsiveness and reduces basal tearing without affecting nociceptor-mediated irritative tearing. Warming of the cornea in humans also decreases tearing rate. These findings indicate that TRPM8-dependent impulse activity in corneal cold receptors contributes to regulating basal tear flow.