A-Kinase anchoring protein 150 (AKAP150) is required for the phosphorylation of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1) by PKA or PKC in sensory neurons and, hence, affects TRPV1-dependent hyperalgesia under pathological conditions. Recently, we showed that the activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors sensitizes TRPV1 by enhancing serine phosphorylation through PKC in trigeminal nociceptors. In this study, we extended this observation by investigating whether AKAP150 mediates NMDA-induced phosphorylation of TRPV1 via PKC in native sensory neurons in the rat. By adopting a phospho-specific antibody combined with a surface biotinylation assay, we first assessed NMDA-induced changes in the phosphorylation level of serine 800 residues (S800) in TRPV1 delimited to cell surface membrane in cultured trigeminal ganglia (TG). The biotinylation assay yielded that the application of NMDA significantly increased the phosphorylation of S800 (p-S800) of TRPV1 at time points correlating with the development of NMDA-induced mechanical hyperalgesia [10]. We then obtained a siRNA sequence against AKAP150 that dose-dependently down-regulated the AKAP150 protein. Pretreatment of TG culture with the siRNA, but not mismatch sequences, prevented the NMDA-induced phosphorylation of serine residues of total TRPV1 as well as S800 of membrane bound TRPV1. We confirmed that AKAP150 co-immunoprecipitated with TRPV1 and demonstrated that it also co-immunoprecipitated with NMDA receptor subunits (NR1 and NR2B) in TG. These data offer novel information that the activation of NMDA-induced TRPV1 sensitization involves p-S800 of TRPV1 in cell surface membrane in native sensory neurons and that AKAP150 is required for NMDA-and PKC-mediated phosphorylation of TRPV1 S800. Therefore, we propose that the NMDA receptor, AKAP150, and TRPV1 forms a signaling complex that underlies the sensitization of trigeminal nociceptors by modulating phosphorylation of specific TRPV1 residues. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.