Fig. 9

The scheme of BNP/NPR-A dependent downregulation of P2X3 receptors. ATP (open circles, red) and BNP (filled circles) are extracellular ligands for P2X3 and NPR-A receptors, respectively. P2X3 receptors are localized to lipid raft (R) and non-raft (NR) membrane compartments. When P2X3 receptors are in NR, they show less efficient signaling. BNP by activating NPR-A receptors of sensory neurons activates guanylyn cyclase (GC) to increase intracellular cGMP and activate PKG. The latter indirectly regulates, in a negative fashion, P2X3 function by determining their localization to the non-raft domains and by facilitating their pSer