

Rather than acting within WSNs, we-unexpectedly-find TRPM2 to temperature-dependently increase synaptic drive onto WSNs by disinhibition.

TRPM2 ion channels facilitate this homeostatic response and, at the cellular level, enhance temperature responses of WSNs, thereby linking WSN function with thermoregulation for the first time. Experimentally induced warming of the mouse hypothalamic preoptic area in vivo triggers body cooling. Here, we describe a synaptic mechanism that regulates temperature sensitivity of preoptic WSNs and body temperature. WSNs increase their action potential firing rates upon warming, a property that has been presumed to rely on the composition of thermosensitive ion channels within WSNs.

Deep brain temperature detection by hypothalamic warm-sensitive neurons (WSNs) has been proposed to provide feedback information relevant for thermoregulation.
