Voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels play an important role in modulating the electrical activity of cells, opening in response to changes in membrane voltage and allowing potassium ions to escape.

Underlying every thought, heartbeat and movement are ion channels, busily conducting high-speed streams of ions into cells, like subway trains coursing through tunnels. Ion channels span the cellular ...

Researchers have discovered a new mechanism for potassium channel inhibitor entry, which could improve the specificity of drugs targeting the channel. Upon binding to calcium ions, BK channels allow ...

Just 12 molecules of water cause the long post-activation recovery period required by potassium ion channels before they can function again. Using molecular simulations that modeled a potassium ...

Ion channels, which allow potassium and sodium ions to flow in and out of cells, are crucial in neuronal 'firing' in the central nervous system and for brain and heart function. These channels use a ' ...

Intrigued by the properties of ion channel proteins commonly observed in cells, researchers have developed the first synthetic mechanosensitive potassium channel using a newly developed aromatic ...

Following this design principle, the researchers create angstrom-scale pores in bi-layer graphene sheets, and decorate the two pore edges with twisted rings of carbonyl groups. The artificial ion ...

Intrigued by the properties of ion channel proteins commonly observed in cells, Tokyo Tech researchers have developed the first synthetic mechanosensitive potassium channel using a newly developed ...

Larger K+ (ionic radius: 1.3 Å) can selectively permeate larger Na + (ionic radius: 1.0 Å) through biological potassium ion channels, with selectivity ratios greater than 1000-fold. Scientists have ...