Chloride channel protein (ClC)-6a and ClC-6c, a kidney-specific splice variant with a truncated C-terminus, are proteins that belong structurally to the family of voltage-dependent chloride channels. Attempts to characterize functionally ClC-6a or ClC-6c in Xenopus oocytes have so far been negative. Similarly, expression of both ClC-6 isoforms in mammalian cells failed to provide functional inf...

Glutamate is an indispensable neurotransmitter, triggering postsynaptic signals upon recognition by postsynaptic receptors. We questioned the phylogenetic position and the molecular details of when and where glutamate recognition arose in the glutamate-gated chloride channels. Experiments revealed that glutamate recognition requires an arginine residue in the base of the binding site, which ori...

CLC channels and transporters are expressed in most tissues and fulfill diverse functions. There are four human CLC channels, ClC-1, ClC-2, ClC-Ka, and ClC-Kb, and five CLC transporters, ClC-3 through -7. Some of the CLC channels additionally associate with accessory subunits. Whereas barttin is mandatory for the functional expression of ClC-K, GlialCam is a facultative subunit of ClC-2 which m...

With the sequencing of the human genome it turned out that many of the genetically identified genes have an unknown function and one of the major problems of biology is the " annotation " of the genome. But the reverse problem persists, i.e., that for many functionally well-defined proteins the coding gene has not been identified. This reverse problem is difficult to tackle because the molecula...

The Rockefeller University Press $30.00 J. Gen. Physiol. 2016 Vol. 148 No. 5 367–373 https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.201611686 367 Elucidating the oligomeric structure of ion channels is central to understanding their function (Marsh and Teichmann, 2015). The vast majority of ion channels are formed by multiple subunits organized as an annulus surrounding a solitary, centrally located ion-conductin...

Cells involved in the retrieval and metabolic conversion of amino acids undergo significant increases in size in response to amino acid uptake. The resultant adaptive responses to cell swelling are thought to include increases in membrane K+ and Cl- permeability through activation of volume-sensitive ion channels. This viewpoint is largely based on experimental models of hypotonic swelling, but...

The Rockefeller University Press $30.00 J. Gen. Physiol. 2016 Vol. 148 No. 5 367–373 https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.201611686 367 Elucidating the oligomeric structure of ion channels is central to understanding their function (Marsh and Teichmann, 2015). The vast majority of ion channels are formed by multiple subunits organized as an annulus surrounding a solitary, centrally located ion-conductin...