TRPC (transient receptor potential cation channel) channels are the closest mammalian homologs of Drosophila TRP and TRP-like channels. TRPCs are rather nonselective Ca2+ permeable cation channels and affect cell functions through their ability to mediate Ca2+ entry into cells and their action to collapse the plasma membrane potentials1.
The mammalian genome codes for seven TRPCs of which TRPC2 is the largest with the most restricted pattern of expression and has several alternatively spliced variant2. Expressed in model cells, TRPC2 mediates both receptor- and store depletion-triggered Ca2+3. In human, TPRC2 is a pseudogene3.
Physiological roles for TRPC2 have been studied in mature sperm and the vomeronasal sensory system. In sperm, TRPC2 is activated by the sperm’s interaction with the oocyte’s zona pellucida, leading to entry of Ca2+ and activation of the acrosome reaction4. In the vomeronasal sensory organ (VNO), TRPC2 was found to constitute the transduction channel activated through signaling cascade initiated by the interaction of pheromones with V1R and V2R G protein-coupled receptors on the dendrites of the sensory neurons5. TRPC2-deficient mice display abnormal mating behavior, consistent with a role for this channel in pheromone signaling6.
