Latest
Industry news

Industry
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FDA Accepts Filing of New Drug Application and Grants Priority Review of Zuranolone
Source: Sage Therapeutics
Industry
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Karuna Therapeutics to obtain global development, manufacturing, and commercialization rights to Goldfinch Bio’s investigational TRPC4/5 channel candidates.
Source: Karuna Therapeutics
Industry
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Sygnature Discovery completes acquisition of SB Drug Discovery to further strengthen its market-leading capabilities
Source: SB Drug Discovery

Industry
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Catalyst Pharmaceuticals to Acquire U.S. Commercial Rights to FYCOMPA® (Perampanel) CIII From Eisai Co., Ltd
Source: Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

Industry
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Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals Raises $39 Million Series B to Advance Mental Health Treatments
Source: PRNewswire
Research highlights
Research
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Researchers developed a method to target specific neurons and change their excitability with light for long periods of time
Source: Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
A new method for modulating neural activity using optogenetic polymerization and assembly of electroactive polymers on specified cellular membranes.
Research
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Researchers Discover Genetic Variant Associated with Earlier Onset Childhood Epilepsy
Source: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
The recurrent SCN1A p.R1636Q variant causes a clinical entity with a wider clinical spectrum than previously reported, characterized by neonatal onset epilepsy and absence of prominent movement disorder.
Research
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New test can help patients with cystic fibrosis
Source: Aarhus University
Challenged urine bicarbonate excretion may be an in vivo biomarker of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) function.
Research
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Scientists uncover potential “electrical language” of breast cancer cells
Source: Imperial College London
The high-throughout, cellular-resolution imaging data indicate that Vm fluctuates dynamically in subpopulations of highly aggressive breast cancer cell lines.
Upcoming Events
Annual Meeting
Biophysical Society Annual Meeting
February 18-22, 2023
Abstract submission deadline: January 5, 2023
San Diego, CA, USA
Symposium
7th RSC-BMCS / SCI Symposium on Ion Channels as Therapeutic Targets
March 27, 2023
Registration deadline: December 31, 2022
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Symposium
Ion Channels in Cancer Biology
April 17-19, 2023
Abstract submission deadline: March 17, 2023
Capua, Italy
Organized by: Saverio Gentile and Sophion Bioscience
Featured Recurring Events
Webinar series
Next webinar: 31/01/2023
Featured
Worldwide Sodium Channel Seminars
Lecture series bringing together sodium channel researchers worldwide.
WEBINAR SERIES
Next webinar: 15/02/2023
Featured
Ion Channels & Transporters in Immunity (ICTI) Seminar Series
A virtual platform for the exchange of ideas and discussion on topics related to ion channels and transporters in immunity.
Webinar series
Next webinar: 2023
Featured
Metrion’s “Ion Channels in Drug Discovery” webinars
Webinar series on all things ion channels.
Symposium
Next symposium: 2023
Featured
Sophion’s Ion Channel Modulation Symposium
A high-level ion channel drug discovery symposium bringing together researchers from academia and industry.

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Industry

Industry
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Sionna Therapeutics Announces IND Clearance and Phase 1 Initiation for SION-638 in Cystic Fibrosis
Source: Sionna Therapeutics

Industry
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Praxis Precision Medicines partners with UCB to discover potential treatments for KCNT1-related epilepsies
Source: Praxis Precision Medicines

Industry
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Relmada’s lead candidate REL-1017 (NMDAR blocker) did not achieve its primary endpoint in a Phase III study, evaluating it as an adjunctive treatment for MDD
Source: Relmada Therapeutics
Industry
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Algernon Pharmaceuticals Receives U.S. FDA Orphan Drug Designation for Ifenprodil for the Treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Source: Algernon Pharmaceuticals
Industry
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Metrion Biosciences and The KCNC1 Foundation collaborate on development of new ion channel modulators for ultra-rare genetic disorder
Source: Metrion Biosciences
Industry
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Metrion Biosciences invests in new High Throughput Screening capability and expanded facilities
Source: Metrion Biosciences
RESEARCH
Research highlights

Research
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Pacemaker Channel Discovery Could Lead to Better Heart Drugs
Source: Weill Cornell Medicine
Anionic lipids unlock the gates of select ion channels in the pacemaker family

Research
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Gene therapy targeting overactive brain cells could treat neurological disorders
Source: University College London
UCL researchers developed a gene therapy strategy that self-selects pathologically overactive neurons and down-regulates their excitability via controlled expression of Kv1.1.
Latest Articles PUBMED
Latest Preprints Biorxiv
- Identification of a sensory neuron Cav2.3 inhibitor within a new superfamily of macro-conotoxins
- Deletion of TRPC6, an autism risk gene, induces hyperexcitability in cortical neurons derived from human pluripotent stem cells
- Genetic pathways regulating the longitudinal acquisition of cocaine self administration in mice
- KATP Channel Prodrugs Reduce Inflammatory and Neuropathic Hypersensitivity, Morphine Induced Hypersensitivity, and Precipitated Withdrawal in Mice
- Immediate reuse of patch-clamp pipettes with ultrasonic cleaning
- The HCN1 hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channel enhances evoked GABA release from parvalbumin positive interneurons
- A Drosophila Wolfram Syndrome 1 (WFS1) homologue synergises with the intracellular Ca2+ release channel, IP3R to affect mitochondrial morphology and function
- Characterization of TMEM43 as a novel ion channel
- Ion channel model reduction using manifold boundaries
- Emergence of ion-channel mediated electrical oscillations in E. coli biofilms
Ion channel research in numbers

Interviews
Latest PATENTS ESPACENET
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Fundamentals

Fundamentals
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Why we should care about ion channels
“… ion channels are the most important single class of proteins that exist in the human body or any body…” – Clay Armstrong

Fundamentals
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History of ion channels
Before the 1660s the Theory of Animal Spirits dominated thinking regarding the function of the nervous system. “Animal spirits” (originating in the brain) were believed to control movements of the body by flowing through the nerves into the muscles.