There is mounting evidence that the vanilloid (capsaicin) receptor; transient receptor potential channel, vanilloid subfamily member 1 (TRPV1), is subjected to multiple interacting levels of control. The first level is by reversible phosphorylation catalyzed by intrinsic kinases (. protein kinase A and C) and phosphatases (. calcineurin), which plays a pivotal role in receptor sensitization vs. tachyphy-laxis. In addition, this mechanism links TRPV1 to intracel-lular signaling by various important endogenous as well as exogenous substances such as bradykinin, ethanol, nicotin and insulin
