News tagged with ion channels
Unusual protein helps regulate key cell communication pathway
Charged atoms, or ions, move through tiny pores, or channels, embedded in cell membranes, generating the electrical signals that allow cells to communicate with one another. In new research, scientists have ...
Apr 23, 2012 |
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Bioengineers develop artificial chip for testing how drugs interact with ion channels
(Phys.org) -- Ion channels, proteins embedded in cell membranes, are central to many of the human body's physiological processes, including cardiac activity. For this reason, they are also important targets for cardiac drugs. ...
Apr 10, 2012 |
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Seeing without eyes: Hydra stinging cells respond to light
In the absence of eyes, the fresh water polyp, Hydra magnipapillata, nevertheless reacts to light. They are diurnal, hunting during the day, and are known to move, looping end over end, or contract, in res ...
Mar 04, 2012 |
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Research shows how the body senses a range of hot temperatures
The winter sun feels welcome, but not so a summer sunburn. Research over the past 20 years has shown that proteins on the surface of nerve cells enable the body to sense several different temperatures. Now scientists have ...
Mar 02, 2012 |
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Molding the business end of neurotoxins
For snakes, spiders, and other venomous creatures, the "business end," or active part, of a toxin is the area on the surface of a protein that is most likely to undergo rapid evolution in response to environmental constraints, ...
Feb 23, 2012 |
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Powerful fungal infection drug amphotericin kills yeast by simply binding ergosterol
With one simple experiment, University of Illinois chemists have debunked a widely held misconception about an often-prescribed drug.
Jan 16, 2012 |
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Gene discovery explains how fruit flies retreat from heat
A discovery in fruit flies may be able to tell us more about how animals, including humans, sense potentially dangerous discomforts.
Dec 15, 2011 |
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How plants sense touch, gravity and other physical forces
(PhysOrg.com) -- At the bottom of plants' ability to sense touch, gravity or a nearby trellis are mechanosensitive channels, pores through the cells' plasma membrane that are opened and closed by the deformation ...
Oct 21, 2011 |
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Optimal modulation of ion channels rescues neurons associated with epilepsy
New research successfully reverses epilepsy-associated pathology by using a sophisticated single-cell modeling paradigm to examine abnormal cell behavior and identify the optimal modulation of channel activity. The study, ...
Oct 18, 2011 |
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Can magnetism help us control the brain, remotely?
University at Buffalo scientists have used magnetic nanoparticles to remotely control ion channels, neurons in cell culture and even the movement of a tiny worm.
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 03, 2011 |
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Blocking the channel: A pharmacologically active antagonist of the two-pore-domain potassium ion channel K2P9.1 (TASK-3)
Treatment of neurological conditions such as sleep–wake control, cognition, and depression could be possible by modulation of the TWIK-related acid-sensitive K+ ion channel (TASK-3, or K2P9.1).
Sep 27, 2011 |
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Fluid equilibrium in prehistoric organisms sheds light on a turning point in evolution
Maintaining fluid balance in the body is essential to survival, from the tiniest protozoa to the mightiest of mammals. By researching recent genomic data, Swiss researchers have found genetic evidence that links this intricate ...
Sep 22, 2011 |
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Realistic simulation of ion flux through membrane sheds light on antibiotic resistance
As the gatekeepers of ion flow through cell membranes, ion channels are of key interest in numerous cellular processes. Now, a new study describes an innovative new computational model that realistically simulates the complex ...
Aug 16, 2011 |
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Engineering excitable cells for studies of bioelectricity and cell therapy
By altering the genetic makeup of normally "unexcitable" cells, Duke University bioengineers have turned them into cells capable of generating and passing electrical current.
Jul 19, 2011 |
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Small change makes a big difference for ion channels
Using a high-resolution single-molecule study technique, University of Illinois researchers have seen the very subtle differences between two branches of an important family of neurotransmitter-gated ion channels.
Jun 02, 2011 |
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Ion channel
Ion channels are pore-forming proteins that help establish and control the small voltage gradient across the plasma membrane of all living cells (see cell potential) by allowing the flow of ions down their electrochemical gradient. They are present in the membranes that surround all biological cells. The study of ion channels is known as channelomics and involves many scientific techniques such as voltage clamp electrophysiology (in particular patch clamp), immunohistochemistry, and RT-PCR.
For more information about Ion channel, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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