Ion Channel News and Research

RSS

MIT researchers unravel the molecular structure of key coronavirus protein

MIT chemists have determined the molecular structure of a protein found in the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This protein, called the envelope protein E, forms a cation-selective channel and plays a key role in the virus's ability to replicate itself and stimulate the host cell's inflammation response.

12 Nov 2020

SARS-CoV-2 viroporin triggers NLRP3 inflammasome causing a severe inflammatory response

Now, a team of researchers at the University of Florida report that the SARS-CoV-2 viroporin triggers the NLR Family Pyrin Domain Containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, which is responsible for the inflammatory pathology in severely ill COVID-19 patients.

30 Oct 2020

Novel machine learning algorithm helps find drug binding sites

Scientists from the iMolecule group at Skoltech Center for Computational and Data-Intensive Science and Engineering developed BiteNet, a machine learning algorithm that helps find drug binding sites, i.e. potential drug targets, in proteins.

27 Oct 2020

Research uncovers SARS-CoV-2 viral traits critical for the virus in human airways

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in October 2020 reports the discovery of important viral genomic features that are crucial to its replication in the human airway cells, and its enhancing mutations which increase the rate of replication and determine its target cells.

26 Oct 2020

Scientists find sensor protein that makes normal bladder function possible

A team co-led by scientists at Scripps Research has found that the main sensor protein enabling our sense of touch also underlies the feeling of having a full bladder and makes normal bladder function possible.

14 Oct 2020

Neurobiologists decode central mechanism of degenerative processes in brains of mouse models

Heidelberg neurobiologists decode central mechanism of degenerative processes in the brains of mouse models and develop new principle for therapeutic agents

9 Oct 2020

New approach transforms oldest antibiotics into safer, stronger drugs

Physicians and scientists have long searched the natural world for chemicals that can improve human health. However, evolutionary selection optimized natural chemicals to benefit their host, not for safety or efficacy in humans.

5 Oct 2020

Metrion Biosciences strengthens global business development team

Metrion Biosciences today announced it has enhanced its business development capabilities, committed to supporting regions in the USA, Europe, and Japan.

From Metrion Biosciences Limited 8 Sep 2020

Study shows how general anesthetic drugs act on the brain receptors

As you drift into unconsciousness before a surgery, general anesthetic drugs flowing through your blood are putting you to sleep by binding mainly to a protein in the brain called the ɣ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor.

3 Sep 2020

Study may help develop new types of non-addictive pain therapies

A team of scientists from ASU's School of Molecular Sciences and the Biodesign Institute have recently published a study in Nature Communications that helps clarify the contributions to an ion channel's temperature - dependent activation. This in turn should aid in the development of new types of non-addictive pain therapies.

27 Aug 2020

15 young scientists receive Damon Runyon Fellowship Award to pursue cancer research

Grants totaling nearly $3.5 million give early career investigators independence to pursue brave and bold cancer research.

31 Jul 2020

People who carry the Neandertal variant of ion channel experience more pain

As several Neandertal genomes of high quality are now available researchers can identify genetic changes that were present in many or all Neandertals, investigate their physiological effects and look into their consequences when they occur in people today.

23 Jul 2020

Study shows how mast cells regulate calcium levels to control the immune response

Instead of protecting us, the immune system can sometimes go awry, as in the case of autoimmune diseases and allergies. An Ludwig-Maximilian-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich team has dissected how mast cells regulate their calcium levels to keep the immune response under control.

23 Jul 2020

Analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 proteome via visual tools

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in July 2020 shows how this can be advanced at a greater speed by combining experimental results with homology models obtained by high-throughput pipelines. This will help produce new hypotheses that will show novel druggable targets for effective drug development.

21 Jul 2020

Scientists identify a new role for covalent linker in transmembrane ion channels

In the molecular-level world of ion channels - passageways through membranes that carry signals in a cell's environment and allow it to respond - researchers have debated about the role of a small piece of the channel called a linker, says computational biophysicist Jianhan Chen at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

10 Jul 2020

Study sheds new light on neurobiological processes that control drug-related adaptations

The lab of Jeremy Day, Ph.D., at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has used single-nucleus RNA sequencing approaches to compare transcriptional responses to acute cocaine in 16 unique cell populations from a portion of the brain called the nucleus accumbens, or NAc.

10 Jul 2020

GIRK channel activator can provide potential treatments for brain disorders

Potassium channels play an important role in controlling the electrical activity of neurons in the brain.

1 Jul 2020

Researchers track brain receptor as it transmits or inhibits neural signals

For the first time, researchers in the lab of CSHL Professor Hiro Furukawa have been able to track each atom in the NMDA receptor, an important brain protein, as it transmits or inhibits neural signals. Critical for brain development and function, the receptor converts chemical messages between cells into electrical signals within a neuron.

30 Jun 2020

Researchers identify a novel mutation through whole-exome sequencing

Long QT syndrome (LQTS), caused by an ion channel-related gene mutation, is a malignant heart disease with a clinical course of a high incidence of ventricular fibrillation and sudden cardiac death in the young.

27 Jun 2020

Researchers identify mouse model that mimics HFpEF syndrome in humans

A receptor that plays an essential role in safely clearing chronic unresolved cardiac inflammation may offer new targets for treating an increasing type of heart failure associated with age-related obesity, suggests a preclinical study led by researchers at the University of South Florida Health Heart Institute, Morsani College of Medicine.

22 Jun 2020