Ion channels are involved in every thought ... The fundamental questions had reached a new level. What is the structure and chemistry behind the operation of an ion channel?

Researchers have confirmed that mammalian BK ion channels regulate themselves using a “ball-and-chain” mechanism. A recent study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine provides a detailed and accura ...

they pull open the channel gates and ions can flow through the pores of the channels. Researchers have been searching for these springs for over 40 years. They previously found a promising structure ...

"We know from our experience and from all this great work done in the last hundred years that ion channels are really, really important to maintain any structure which has a membrane," Singh said.

Advances in patch clamp technology and, more recently, cryo-electron microscopy have helped researchers characterize the physiological function and structure of ion channels. However, despite an ...

Using advanced structural imaging and computer modeling techniques, the researchers confirmed that BK channels can stop their ion flow via a long-theorized ball-and-chain structure that plugs the ...

Due to the inherent difficulties in studying natural channel proteins, researchers are encouraged to use simple artificial receptor molecules to simulate the structure and function of their ...

Hearing begins with the stretching of elastic molecular 'springs' that open ion channels in the sensory hair cells of the ear. For decades, researchers have known that these gating springs must exist, ...

Using advanced structural imaging and computer modeling techniques, the researchers confirmed that BK channels can stop their ion flow via a long-theorized ball-and-chain structure that plugs the ...