Cyclic ADP-ribose and hydrogen peroxide synergize with ADP-ribose in the activation of TRPM2 channels

The melastatin-related transient receptor potential channel TRPM2 is a plasma membrane Ca2+ -permeable cation channel that is activated by intracellular adenosine diphosphoribose (ADPR) binding to the channel's enzymatic Nudix domain. Channel activity is also seen with nicotinamide dinucleotide (NAD(+)) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), but their mechanisms of action remain unknown. Here, we identify cyclic adenosine diphosphoribose (cADPR) as an agonist of TRPM2 with dual activity: at concentrations above 100 mu M, cADPR can gate the channel by itself, whereas lower concentrations of 10 mu M have a potentiating effect that enables ADPR to gate the channel at nano-molar concentrations. ADPR's breakdown product adenosine monophosphate (AMP) specifically inhibits ADPR, but not cADPR-mediated gating of TRPM2, whereas the cADPR antagonist 8-Br-cADPR exhibits the reverse block specificity. Our results establish TRPM2 as a coincidence detector for ADPR and cADPR signaling and provide a functional context for cADPR as a second messenger for Ca2+ influx.