Whole cell patch clamp investigations were carried out to clarify the pH sensitivity of native and recombinant P2X 3 receptors. In HEK293 cells permanently transfected with human (h) P2X 3 receptors (HEK293-hP2X 3 cells), an acidic pH shifted the concentration-response curve for ␣,-methylene ATP (␣,-meATP) to the right and increased its maximum. An alkalic pH did not alter the effect of ␣,-meATP. Further, a low pH value increased the activation time constant ( on ) of the ␣,-meATP current; the fast and slow time constants of desensitization ( des1 , des2 ) were at the same time also increased. Finally, acidification accelerated the recovery of P2X 3 receptors from the desensitized state. Replacement of histidine 206, but not histidine 45, by alanine abolished the pH-induced effects on hP2X 3 receptors transiently expressed in HEK293 cells. Changes in the intracellular pH had no effect on the amplitude or time course of the ␣,-meATP currents. The voltage sensitivity and reversal potential of the currents activated by ␣,-meATP were unaffected by extracellular acidification. Similar effects were observed in a subpopulation of rat dorsal root ganglion neurons expressing homomeric P2X 3 receptor channels. It is suggested that acidification may have a dual effect on P2X 3 channels, by decreasing the current amplitude at low agonist concentrations (because of a decrease in the rate of activation) and increasing it at high concentrations (because of a decrease in the rate of desensitization). Thereby, a differential regulation of pain sensation during e.g. inflammation may occur at the C fiber terminals of small DRG neurons in peripheral tissues.High proton concentrations have been registered in inflamed tissue (down to pH 5.4), after surgical interventions (down to pH 5.5), in fracture-related hematomas (down to pH 4.7), in cardiac ischemia (down to pH 5.7), and in and around malignant tumors (1-5). Therefore, local acidosis is considered to contribute to pain experienced in these states (5-11). It is also known that continuous administration of low pH buffered solutions into human skin evokes instant pain and hyperalgesia to mechanical stimulation (12). Electrophysiological experiments in rat skin nerve preparations showed that pathophysiologically relevant high proton concentrations produce a selective nonadapting excitation of nociceptors and a significant sensitization to mechanical stimulation (13). Thus, it has been proposed that local acidosis may play a major role in pain and hyperalgesia (7).Hydrogen ions are able to excite dorsal root ganglion (DRG) 2 neurons via the activation and/or modulation of inward cationselective currents, including the acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) (14), the transient receptor potential vanilloid receptor 1 (TRPV1) (15, 16), and P2X receptors (17, 18). P2X receptors represent a family of ligand-gated cationic channels that open in response to the binding of ATP, possess two transmembrane domains, intracellular N and C termini, a large extracellular loop, and assemble as hom...