Voltage-dependent potassium channels (KV4) are expressed in the brain and the heart where they regulate cognitive function and cardiac output. …
Continue readingIon Channels
TTA-P2 and TTA-A2: Specific and Potent CaV3 Channel Blockers
Genes encoding T-type CaV channels yield three pore-forming subunits: CaV3.1, CaV3.2 and CaV3.3 which give rise to currents that are …
By Melanie R. Grably, Ph.D.
Continue reading NaV Channels and Pain
The role of NaV Channels in several types of pain opens a gateway for the development of specific sodium-channel inhibiting …
By Melanie R. Grably, Ph.D. and Lior Zornitzki, M.D.
Continue reading Venom Toxins as Ion Channel Research Tools
Venomous creatures deploy a wide array of proteins and peptides, active on a spectrum of targets, for prey immobilization. These …
By Oren Bogin, Ph.D.
Continue reading Decoding the L-Type Ca2+ Signal: A Story of Transcription Regulation
L-type voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channels (CaV) on the plasma membrane of diverse cell types play a fundamental role in Ca2+ signaling …
By Yossi Anis, Ph.D.
Continue reading ERG K+ Channels
The ether-a-go-go gene (EAG) family is a relative novel group of K+– channels, which belong to an increasing number of …
By Dovrat Brass M.Sc., B.Pharm & Alon Meir Ph.D.
Continue reading Ion Channels and Tyrosine Kinases
Modulation of ion channel activity is a fundamental mechanism in many tissues. Ion channels, like many other proteins are targets for several intracellular signaling pathways, including protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. These processes can modify channel activity and dramatically alter the electrophysiological properties of both excitable and nonexcitable cells1-5. The amino acid sequences of ion channels suggest that many contain a wide variety of possible phosphorlyation sites. Phosphorylation in general and Tyrosine Phosphorylation (TP) in particular were shown to participate in the control of ion channel activity. Initial evidence showing that ion channels may be regulated by TP came largely from pharmacological studies using soluble inhibitors for Protein Tyrosine Kinases (PTKs) such as Genistein, K252a/b,
By Yossi Anis, Ph.D., Head of Cell Signaling Division
Continue reading K+ Channels and Cancer: Surprising New Discoveries
K+ channels belong to a large class of transmembrane proteins that specifically regulate the transport of K+ ions across biological …
By Noemí Bronstein-Sitton, Ph.D.
Continue reading New Diversity within the Mammalian Tandem Pore Domain K+ Channel Family
Many studies of ion channels expressed by neural tissues have focused on channels gated by ligands or voltage. In this mini review, another relatively new class of ion channels will be discussed – those known more for their constitutive activity than for gating properties. Prior to 1995, K+ channel subunits had been isolated with one pore domain that encoded voltage-gated or inward rectifier channels. However, that year a yeast K+ channel subunit was identified that contained two pore domains in tandem within its primary amino acid sequence7. When expressed, functional channels were formed whose activation was coupled to the equilibrium potential for K+ and passed large amounts of outward current at depolarized potentials. Accordingly, this channel was named TOK1 (two P domain outward rectifier K+ channel). TOK1 is the only K+
By Andrew T. Gray, M.D., Ph.D.
Continue reading ERG K+ Channels
The first member of the Eag family was cloned in Drosophila melanogaster in 19915, 6. The mutants in its gene, …
By Alomone Labs
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