What did David Julius, Nobel Prize winner, discover about our skin?

Using information from folk medicine and old pharmacology, Julius elucidated what happens when our bodies encounter chili peppers.

In 1997, Julius and his colleagues cloned and characterized the transient receptor potential V1 (TRPV1), the molecule that detects capsaicin, the chemical in chili peppers that makes them “hot.” They found that TRPV1 also detects noxious heat (thermoception). TRPV1 is part of a large family of structurally related transient receptor potential (TRP) cation channels. Animals lacking TRPV1 lose sensitivity to noxious heat and capsaicin. It may seem obvious, but these receptors don’t exist simply to allow us to enjoy Mexican food; they are responsible for a body function that allows us to survive in the environment: they confer sensitivity to heat. Conversely, the menthol receptor (TRPM8) confers sensitivity to cold. What menthol and capsaicin do is modify the receptors temporarily so that they will respond to changes in temperature at lower thresholds.

When inserted in a membrane, the receptors/ion channels can transform heat into a voltage change—these molecules are micro-thermometers that allow us (and other animals) to discriminate between hot and cold.

Julius’s lab has also cloned and characterized TRPM8 (CMR1) and TRPA1, both members of the TRP superfamily. They demonstrated that TRPM8 detects menthol and cooler temperatures and TRPA1 detects mustard oil (allyl isothiocyanate). These observations suggested that TRP channels detect a range of temperatures and chemicals. David Julius’s lab has also contributed to the study of nociception (from Latin nocere ‘to harm or hurt) by discovering toxins that modulate these channels, describing unique adaptations of the channels in diverse species; they also solved the chemical structures of many such channels.

Incidentally, before he did his Nobel Price research, he had already characterized the serotonin 1c receptor, the one that makes your happy when you exercise (ask my grandson).

Watch David Julius giving his Nobel Lecture in 2021.

An interesting connection is that using our Strontium-containing spray will alleviate the maladaptive rosacea response when entering a hot room. How does that work?  Probably the same cation channels. Rosacea increases the “twitchiness” of skin receptors to environmental stimuli like heat, and Strontium seems to decrease it.

Hannah

DISCLAIMER: These claims have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent any disease.