Using a peptide toxin and small vanilloid agonists as pharmacological probes, high-resolution electron cryo-microscopy structures of rat TRPV1–ligand complexes are solved; these structures highlight conformational differences between TRP and voltage-gated ion channels in their active states, and suggest a dual gating mechanism that may account for the ability of members of the TRP channel superfamily to integrate diverse physiological signals.
- Erhu Cao
- Maofu Liao
- David Julius
