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Mechanical forces caused by foetal movements drive skeletal development
Source: University College Dublin
New study identifies the TRPV4 channel as playing a key role in translating mechanical signals from a baby's movement in the womb to healthy development of the skeleton.
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Treating gut pain via a Nobel prize-winning receptor
Source: Flinders University
Targeting Piezo2 could provide a new avenue for treating chronic pain associated with gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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Extracellular fluid viscosity enhances cell migration and cancer dissemination
Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine
Elevated viscosity counterintuitively increases the motility of various cell types in a TRPV4-dependent manner.
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Study Identifies Potential New Treatment Target for Sleep Apnea
Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine
TRPM7 channels regulate breathing during sleep in obesity by acting peripherally in the carotid bodies.
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TRPC6 Blocking Improves Muscle Function and Survival in Mice with Severe Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine
Researchers discovered that blocking the TRPC6 channel in genetically modified mice with severe or moderate Duchenne muscular dystrophy substantially improves their skeletal and cardiac muscle function, bone deformities and survival.
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A New Mechanism Responsible for Controlling Auditory Sensitivity
Source: University of Colorado
cAMP and voltage modulate rat auditory mechanotransduction by decreasing the stiffness of gating springs.
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New findings reveal how neurons build and maintain their capacity to communicate
Source: MIT
While the biosynthesis of the voltage-gated Ca2+ channels does not play a major role in regulating their abundance at presynaptic active zones, both trafficking and recycling at active zones are important regulatory steps.
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Opening New Doors: First Synthetic Mechanosensitive Potassium Channel
Source: Tokyo Institute of Technology
Inspired by mechanosensitive potassium channels found in nature, researchers have developed the first synthetic mechanosensitive potassium channel.
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Breaking the vicious itch-scratch cycle by targeting ‘miswired’ neurons
Source: Fierce Biotech
Researchers showed that the Piezo2 channels in Merkel cells are responsible for the itch triggered by mechanical stimulation in dry skin.
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Researchers discovered novel light-gated potassium channel
Source: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Researcher have discovered two naturally occurring channelrhodopsins enabling optogenetic control of K+ gradients, which is promising for the study and potential treatment of potassium channelopathies such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and long-QT syndrome and other cardiac arrhythmias.
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Research reveals surprising inactivation mechanism for a voltage-gated ion channel
Source: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
New findings elucidate mechanisms of closed-state inactivation and voltage-dependent activation of the KV4 channel.
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Gene therapy inspired by bacteria shows promise for cardiac conduction disorders
Source: Fierce Biotech
Scientists demonstrated that prokaryotic sodium channels can be directly, specifically, and stably expressed in cardiomyocytes through viral gene delivery to augment tissue excitability and conduction.
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A striking difference between neurons of humans and other mammals
Source: MIT
Human neurons have fewer ion channels compared to the neurons of other mammals.
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Chemists discover the structure of a key coronavirus protein
Source: MIT
An essential protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the envelope protein E, forms a homopentameric cation channel that is important for virus pathogenicity.
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Outstanding ion channel scientists receive honorary awards
October 2020 has really become a month of awards for ion channel researchers.
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Ardem Patapoutian and David Julius have won the 2020 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience
Source: The Kavli Prize
The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has decided to award the 2020 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian “for their transformative discovery of receptors for temperature and pressure.”
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