Structure and function of voltage-gated sodium channels.

Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels Modulation by Bothutous Schach Scorpion Venom

Buthotus schach is one of the dangers scorpion in Iran that belong to the Buthidae family. Toxins are existing in venom scorpion, modulate the ion channels by blocking or opening the pore of the channel or by altering the voltage gating and useful as pharmacological tools. In the present study, we investigated the effect of venom and its obtained fractions by gel filtrations on electrophysiolog...

From Ionic Currents to Molecular Review Mechanisms: The Structure and Function of Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels

Inherited disorders of voltage-gated sodium channels.

A variety of inherited human disorders affecting skeletal muscle contraction, heart rhythm, and nervous system function have been traced to mutations in genes encoding voltage-gated sodium channels. Clinical severity among these conditions ranges from mild or even latent disease to life-threatening or incapacitating conditions. The sodium channelopathies were among the first recognized ion chan...

International Union of Pharmacology. XLVII. Nomenclature and structure-function relationships of voltage-gated sodium channels.

The family of voltage-gated sodium channels initiates action potentials in all types of excitable cells. Nine members of the voltage-gated sodium channel family have been characterized in mammals, and a 10th member has been recognized as a related protein. These distinct sodium channels have similar structural and functional properties, but they initiate action potentials in different cell type...

Solution structure and alanine scan of a spider toxin that affects the activation of mammalian voltage-gated sodium channels.

Magi 5, from the hexathelid spider Macrothele gigas, is a 29-residue polypeptide containing three disulfide bridges. It binds specifically to receptor site 4 on mammalian voltage-gated sodium channels and competes with scorpion beta-toxins, such as Css IV from Centruroides suffusus suffusus. As a consequence, Magi 5 shifts the activation voltage of the mammalian rNav1.2a channel to more hyperpo...

Deep Insight Section

Ion channels are pore-forming proteins and their function is to facilitate the diffusion of ion across cell membranes by flow of ions down the electrochemical gradient. Voltage-gated ion channels are a class of transmembrane ion channels and are found throughout the body which allowed a rapid and coordinated depolarization in response to voltage change in excitable cells (Catterall, 2010). Rece...