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 ...

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 ...

Potassium channels are openings that allow charged potassium atoms to cross the cell membrane. Voltage-gated potassium channels — which open only when a specific voltage is reached across the cell ...

A new study has unveiled a precise picture of how an ion channel found in most mammalian cells regulates its own function with a 'ball-and-chain' channel-plugging mechanism. The findings boost the ...

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 ...

Potassium channel blockers are a type of medication used to treat conditions like cardiac arrhythmias. They block the movement of potassium channels in the body, disrupting the body’s electrical ...

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 ...