Potassium Channels Kv7 (KCNQ) and GIRK As Universal Regulators of Neuromuscular Activity

Molecular Basis for Activation to Inhibition Switching in Kv7.2 Channel Modulators.

Kv7 voltage-gated potassium channels play a critical role in controlling electrical properties of excitable tissues. Neuronally-expressed Kv7 channels are involved in both common and rare neuropsychiatric disorders, ranging from epilepsy to depression and neurodegenerative diseases; thus, they represent attractive ther...

K2P Channels Regulate Presynaptic Organisation through a Membrane Potential-Independent Mechanism

Neuronal ion channels have well-established effects on synaptic plasticity, in many cases by influencing pathways that depend on membrane excitability. Here we find that a C. elegans two-pore domain potassium (K2P) channel, TWK-40, regulates presynaptic organisation through a membrane potential-independent mechanism. I...

Silent Kv subunits as major players in cell membrane excitability

Silent Kv subunits are alpha subunits forming heteromeric Kv channels. These subunits do not form functional homomeric Kv channels, and their function in cell biology is realized when co-assembled with Kv2 subunits. There are currently 10 silent Kv subunits encoded in the genome of humans and other mammals, and they al...

Biophysical Characterization of the human Nav1.9 sodium channel in trigeminal ganglia and dorsal root ganglia neurons

Decoding Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels Structure: Molecular Mechanisms Linking Architecture, Function, and Disease.

Voltage-gated sodium (NaV) channels are critical transmembrane proteins responsible for the initiation and propagation of electrical signals in excitable tissues. They consist of a large α subunit and auxiliary β subunits. Together, the voltage sensing, ion selectivity, and rapid gating transitions regulate neuronal, m...

K2P channels as emerging therapeutic targets for pain: insights from functional studies and transcriptomic analyses

Two-pore domain potassium (K2P) channels are major determinants of neuronal excitability through their ability to generate leak potassium currents that control resting membrane potential and action potential firing. Initially considered as passive background channels, K2P channels are now recognized as polymodal sensor...