Ion channels form the basis for cellular electrical signaling. Despite the scores of genetically identified ion channels selective for other monatomic ions, only one type of proton-selective ion channel has been found in eukaryotic cells. By comparative transcriptome analysis of mouse taste receptor cells, we identified Otopetrin1 (OTOP1), a protein required for development of gravity-sensing otoconia in the vestibular system, as forming a proton-selective ion channel. We found that murine OTOP1 is enriched in acid-detecting taste receptor cells and is required for their Zn2+-sensitive proton conductance. Two related murine genes, Otop2 and Otop3, and a Drosophila ortholog also encode proton channels. Evolutionary conservation of the gene family and its widespread tissue distribution suggest a broad role for proton channels in physiology and pathophysiology.

During the mitochondrial permeability transition, a large channel in the inner mitochondrial membrane opens, leading to the loss of multiple mitochondrial solutes and cell death. Key triggers include excessive reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial calcium overload, factors implicated in neuronal and cardiac pathophysiology. Examining the differential behavior of mitochondrial Ca 2+ overload in Drosophila versus human cells allowed us to identify a gene, MCUR1, which, when expressed in Drosophila cells, conferred permeability transition sensitive to electrophoretic Ca 2+ uptake. Conversely, inhibiting MCUR1 in mammalian cells increased the Ca 2+ threshold for inducing permeability transition. The effect was specific to the permeability transition induced by Ca 2+, and such resistance to overload translated into improved cell survival. Thus, MCUR1 expression regulates the Ca 2+ threshold required for permeability transition.T he mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) pore is large, and its opening collapses the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ), depleting the matrix of solutes <1.5 kDa. The osmotic imbalance swells and disrupts mitochondria, leading to cell death. The molecular structure of the MPT pore is unknown, although cyclophilin D [peptidyl-prolyl isomerase F (PPIF)], the ADP/ATP translocase, the F1-FO-ATP synthase, and spastic paraplegia 7 are key for its function (1-5).Key triggers for the MPT include oxidative damage and Ca 2+

Mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) contributes to the progression of heart failure, but the mechanisms of ROS generation are incompletely resolved. Superoxide ( . O 2 À