Structural basis of cooling agent and lipid sensing by the cold-activated TRPM8 channel.

A summary is presented of an article published online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aav9334 on the role of transient receptor potential melastatin member 8 (TRPM8) in sensing cooling agents and lipids. It states TRPM8 is a calcium-permeable ion channel allowing humans to detect cold, and reports it is also activated by icilin and menthol. It mentions how phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) binding in TRPM8 engages subdomains from the cytoplasmic domain and transmembrane domain.