辣椒素及其受体

可以感受痛觉刺激的初级感觉神经元的周围末梢被称为伤害性感受器。这些小直径神经元的末梢可将化学、机械和热刺激信号转化为动作电位，并将这些信息上传到中枢，最后使机体产生痛觉或不舒服的感受。但到目前为止，人们对这些可探测到伤害性刺激的分子所知甚少。1997年成功克隆的辣椒素受体亚型1（vanilloid receptor subtype1,VR1)是近年来科学家们研究的“热点分子”，它是表达于伤害性感受器上的非选择性阳离子通道，已有诸多证据表明其可探测和整合诱发痛觉的化学和热刺激信号，基因敲除小鼠的研究分析也有力证明了该离子通道参与了疼痛及组织损伤后痛觉过敏的产生，而且是热诱发疼痛发生过程的关键分子。

Capsaicin and its receptor--vanilloid receptor

The detection of painful stimuli occurs primarily at the peripheral terminals of specialized sensory neurons called nociceptors. These small-diameter neurons transmit this information to the central nervous system, ultimately eliciting a perception of pain or discomfort. The capsaicin (vanilloid) receptor, an excitatory ion channel expressed at nociceptors, plays an important role in transducing thermal and inflammatory pain. Mice lacking the VR1 gene have deficits in thermal or inflammation induced hyperalgesia, which confirms the involvement of this channel in pain sensation, especially the sensation of heat evoked pain.