Magawa, Chandi T, Eaton-Fitch, Natalie, Balinas, Cassandra et al. · Frontiers in physiology · 2022 · DOI
Researchers developed a better way to extract and study proteins from immune cells called natural killer cells in ME/CFS patients. They focused on a specific protein channel called TRPM3, which may play a role in ME/CFS. This study shows they can now reliably detect this protein, which opens the door for future research to understand how it might be different in ME/CFS.
This study provides the technical foundation for investigating whether TRPM3 ion channels are abnormal in ME/CFS patients' immune cells. If TRPM3 dysfunction is found in ME/CFS, it could lead to new understanding of disease mechanisms and potentially identify new therapeutic targets. Having reliable methods to study these proteins is essential for advancing ME/CFS research.
This study does not establish whether TRPM3 is actually different or abnormal in ME/CFS patients—it only develops the tools to measure it. The small sample size (4 ME/CFS patients) is too limited to draw any conclusions about disease-specific patterns. This is a methods paper, not a clinical study, so it cannot prove TRPM3 dysfunction causes ME/CFS symptoms.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Magawa, Chandi T, Eaton-Fitch, Natalie, Balinas, Cassandra, Sasso, Etianne Martini, Thapaliya, Kiran, Barnden, Leighton, et al. (2022). Identification of transient receptor potential melastatin 3 proteotypic peptides employing an efficient membrane protein extraction method for natural killer cells.. Frontiers in physiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.947723
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-magawa-2022-identification-transient,
author = {Magawa, Chandi T and Eaton-Fitch, Natalie and Balinas, Cassandra and Sasso, Etianne Martini and Thapaliya, Kiran and Barnden, Leighton and Maksoud, Rebekah and Weigel, Breanna and Rudd, Penny A and Herrero, Lara J and Marshall-Gradisnik, Sonya},
title = {Identification of transient receptor potential melastatin 3 proteotypic peptides employing an efficient membrane protein extraction method for natural killer cells.},
journal = {Frontiers in physiology},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.3389/fphys.2022.947723},
note = {PubMed: 36213251},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/magawa-2022-identification-transient},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/magawa-2022-identification-transient
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