Ion Channels

News Ion Channels

• Bacteria under stress
  

  In stress situations, bacteria use special ion channels for defense. Understanding how they function provides the basis for combating harmful bacteria. A Würzburg research group in cooperation with ETH Zurich and the University of Oxford has now been able to decipher how two of these channels are st more

• Neandertals may have had a lower threshold for pain
  

  Pain is mediated through specialized nerve cells that are activated when potentially harmful things affect various parts of our bodies. These nerve cells have a special ion channel that has a key role in starting the electrical impulse that signals pain and is sent to the brain. According to a new s more

• Ion channel VRAC enhances immune response against viruses
  

  VRAC/LRRC8 chloride channels do not only play a decisive role in the transport of cytostatics, amino acids and neurotransmitters. They can also transport the important messenger substance cGAMP from cell to cell and thus strengthen the immune response to infections with DNA viruses. This has now bee more

Videos Ion Channels

New Structure of a Calcium-Shuttling Molecule Could Help Scientists Target Aggressive Cancers

Scientists have captured new images of a calcium-shuttling molecule that has been linked to aggressive cancers. The three-dimensional structure could help researchers develop novel therapies and diagnostic tools for diseases that are caused by a malfunction in calcium adsorption. more

Publications Ion Channels

• Stochastic shielding and edge importance for Markov chains with timescale separation

  by Deena R. Schmidt, Roberto F. Galán, Peter J. Thomas Nerve cells produce electrical impulses (“spikes”) through the coordinated opening and closing of ion channels. Markov processes with voltage-dependent transition rates capture the stochasticity of spike generation at the cost of complex, tim more

• A biophysical mechanism for preferred direction enhancement in fly motion vision

  by Alexander Borst Seeing the direction of motion is essential for survival of all sighted animals. Consequently, nerve cells that respond to visual stimuli moving in one but not in the opposite direction, so-called ‘direction-selective’ neurons, are found abundantly. In general, direction select more

• Marine Drugs, Vol. 16, Pages 208: Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Modulators from Cone Snails

  Marine Drugs, Vol. 16, Pages 208: Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Modulators from Cone Snails Marine Drugs doi: 10.3390/md16060208 Authors: Nikita Abraham Richard J. Lewis Marine cone snails are a large family of gastropods that have evolved highly potent venoms for predat more