Ion channels are known to be present on the plasma membrane of virtually all cells and have been found on the membranes of various intracellular organelles. However, until recently they were believed not to occur at the nuclear membrane. In this study we describe the molecular cloning and characterization of a nuclear ion channel protein, designated nuclear chloride channel-27 (NCC27), from the...

potassium channels allow potassium flux and are essential for the generation of electric current acrossexcitable membranes. potassium channels are also the targets of various intracellular controlmechanisms; such that the suboptimal regulation of channel function might be related to pathologicalconditions. realistic studies of ion current in biologic channels present a major challenge for compu...

The potent neurotoxin kainate activates ion channel-forming receptors. However, it can also activate a G protein-coupled signaling pathway to inhibit transmitter release in central neurons. It remains unclear whether the same receptor complex is involved in both signaling activities. Here we show that in a population of dorsal root ganglion cells, exposure to kainate elicits a G protein-depende...

The structural, dynamical, and thermodynamic properties of a model potassium channel are studied using molecular dynamics simulations. We use the recently unveiled protein structure for the KcsA potassium channel from Streptomyces lividans. Total and free energy profiles of potassium and sodium ions reveal a considerable preference for the larger potassium ions. The selectivity of the channel a...

A position-dependent stochastic diffusion model of gating in ion channels is developed by considering the spatial variation of the diffusion coefficient between the closed and open states. It is assumed that a sensor which regulates the opening of the ion channel experiences Brownian motion in a closed region Rc and a transition region Rm, where the dynamics is described by probability densitie...

Ion current fluctuations occurring within open and closed states of a large-conductance locust potassium channel (BK channel) were investigated for the existence of correlation. Both the time series, extracted from the ion current signal, were studied by the autocorrelation function and the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) methods. The persistent character of the short- and middle-range cor...

Kainate binding proteins (KBPs) are highly homologous to ionotropic glutamate receptors; however, no ion channel function has been demonstrated for these proteins. To investigate possible reasons for the apparent lack of ion channel function we transplanted the ion channel domains of five KBPs into glutamate receptors GluR 6 and GluR1. In each case we obtained functional chimeric receptors in w...

VCF (voltage clamp fluorimetry) provides a powerful technique to observe real-time conformational changes that are associated with ion channel gating. The present review highlights the insights such experiments have provided in understanding Kv (voltage-gated potassium) channel gating, with particular emphasis on the study of mammalian Kv1 channels. Further applications of VCF that would contri...

Deducing plausible reaction schemes from single-channel current traces is time-consuming and difficult. The goal is to find the simplest scheme that fits the data, but there are many ways to connect even a small number of states (>2 million schemes with four open and four closed states). Many schemes make identical predictions. An exhaustive search over model space does not address the many equ...