Lessons of Studying TRP Channels with Antibodies

Excerpt

Members of the transient receptor potential (TRP) family are membrane proteins; they constitute cation channels that are involved in a vast variety of physiological processes in mammals, flies, and worms. Rather than going into specific functions of single TRP proteins, this contribution describes different procedures used to generate antibodies specific for TRP proteins, the characterization of these antibodies by Western blotting and immunoprecipitation, and common pitfalls that have to be considered when pursuing these applications. The antibodies for TRPC3, TRPC4, TRPM3, and TRPM4, which are described, have been generated in the authors’ laboratory.