Ion Channel News and Research

RSS

Bacterial toxin closes gate on immune response

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated that a bacterial toxin from the common bacterium Staphylococcus aureus shuts down the control mechanism of the tunnel, called an ion channel, in immune cell membranes.

14 Feb 2008

RNA-associated introns guide nerve-cell channel production

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that introns, or junk DNA to some, associated with RNA are an important molecular guide to making nerve-cell electrical channels.

7 Feb 2008

New understanding of ion channel regulation

A study at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago published this week in the online version of Biophysical Journal proposes that bubbles may control the opening and closing of ion channels.

4 Feb 2008

Celebrex may disrupt heart rhythm

Celebrex, a popular arthritis drug that blocks pain by inhibiting an enzyme known as COX-2, has been shown in laboratory studies to induce arrhythmia, or irregular beating of the heart, via a novel pathway unrelated to its COX-2 inhibition.

25 Jan 2008

Viroporins, membrane-permeabilizing proteins of the poliomyelitis virus

A research team from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid directed by Professor Luís Carrasco has published new discoveries concerning the membrane permeabilizing proteins of the polio virus.

16 Jan 2008

How asthma and allergy symptoms are triggered

In demonstrating that a group of calcium ion channels play a crucial role in triggering inflammatory responses, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have not only solved a longstanding molecular mystery regarding the onset of asthma and allergy symptoms, but have also provided a fundamental discovery regarding the functioning of mast cells.

15 Jan 2008

Fish oil supplements may help some cardiac patients while harming others

Fish oil supplements may help some cardiac patients while harming others, suggests a new review of evidence compiled by St. Michael's Hospital and University of Toronto researchers.

15 Jan 2008

Research focuses on basic cellular mechanics that instigate the muscle contractions of labor

In the 21st century, human tissue can be generated from stem cells and severed limbs are successfully reattached, while the physiological processes governing life's most fundamental event, childbirth labor, remain a medical mystery.

4 Jan 2008

Study uncovers clues to cystic fibrosis gene dysfunction and gastrointestinal disease

A new study by researchers at Hasbro Children's Hospital, the pediatric division of Rhode Island Hospital, and Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, offers new insight into the role that the cystic fibrosis gene plays in the development of gastrointestinal disease.

14 Dec 2007

Missing brain protein may be one of the culprits behind autism and other brain disorders

The protein helps synapses develop. Synapses--through which neurons communicate with one other-underlie our ability to learn and remember. Now Li-Huei Tsai, Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, has uncovered an enzyme that is key to that protein's activity.

5 Dec 2007

Scientists zero in on the cellular machinery that enables neurons to fire

Toy robots with removable body parts - you probably had fun swapping their heads, imagining how it would affect their behavior. Scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health have been performing similar experiments on ion channels - pores in our nerve cells - to sort out the channels' key functional parts.

15 Nov 2007

New target for MS treatment found using old drug

A drug currently used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure has been found to reduce the symptoms of multiple sclerosis in mice.

13 Nov 2007

Inheriting two genetic mutations that can individually cause epilepsy may cancel each other

Inheriting two genetic mutations that can individually cause epilepsy might actually be "seizure-protective," said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears online in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

5 Nov 2007

Researchers discover new gene responsible for Brugada syndrome

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified a new gene responsible for a rare, inherited form of sudden cardiac arrest, known as Brugada syndrome.

1 Nov 2007

Researchers tackle phantom sounds of tinnitus

For the more than 50 million Americans who experience the phantom sounds of tinnitus -- ringing in the ears that can range from annoying to debilitating -- certain well-trained rats may be their best hope for finding relief.

8 Oct 2007

New targeted approach to pain management

Imagine an epidural or a shot of Novocain that doesn't paralyze your legs or make you numb, yet totally blocks your pain.

4 Oct 2007

Mutation in a single gene can cause epilepsy in infants

New research from the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne has shown why mutation in a single gene can cause epilepsy in infants.

4 Oct 2007

Research shows how genetic mutation causes epilepsy in infants

New research from the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne has shown why mutation in a single gene can cause epilepsy in infants.

24 Sep 2007

Mutations in the insulin gene can cause permanent neonatal diabetes

Mutations in the insulin gene can cause permanent neonatal diabetes, an unusual form of diabetes that affects very young children and results in lifelong dependence on insulin injections, report researchers from the University of Chicago and Peninsula University (Exeter, UK) in Sept. 18, 2007, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published early online.

11 Sep 2007

A drug-sensitive 'traffic cop' tells potassium channels to get lost

Our brains are buzzing with electrical activity created by sodium and potassium ions moving in and out of neurons through specialized pores. To prevent the constant chatter from descending into chaos the activity of these ion channels has to be tightly regulated.

3 Sep 2007