Recently, a family of temperature-activated ion channels has been identified in mammalian
and nonmammalian species that appear to contribute to thermosensation. Two of these
proteins, TRPV3 and TRPV4, are ion channels activated by modest increases in ambient
temperature. Localization studies have indicated that both proteins, in addition to being
expressed in sensory neurons, are also expressed in skin keratinocytes. These and other
findings have suggested that keratinocytes might act in concert with sensory neurons to …