Ion in Biological News

International collaboration by scientists culminates in novel ion channels database

... understanding of the roles played by ion channels in drug action is now available for ... (IUPHAR) announce the publication of a new ion channels database, covering both the voltage-gated (VGIC) and ligand-gated (LGIC) ion channels. This represents a major addition to ...

Drug prevents seizure progression in model of epilepsy

... College of Science. "The drug works by inhibiting ion channels whose role in epilepsy was only recently ... colleagues were the first to link BK channels, ion channels that allow electrically charged ... study, Barth tested this theory by blocking the ion channels using a BK-channel antagonist called ...

GOCE's electric ion propulsion engine switched on

... GOCE's sophisticated electric ion propulsion system has been switched on and ... could do this, but GOCE's sophisticated electric ion propulsion system can. This cutting-edge ... steady and smooth thrust. The electric ion propulsion system comprises two redundant ...

A pocketful of uranium

... atom and two terminal oxygen atoms. The uranyl ion also likes to form coordination complexes. It ... chose to develop a protein that offers the uranyl ion a binding cavity in which it is surrounded by the ... NikR does not bind to the DNA. The nickel ion is located in a binding cavity in which it is ...

Researchers advance knowledge of little 'nano-machines' in our body

... biophysicists will improve the understanding of ion channels, akin to little 'nano-machines' or ... the movement of single proteins that control the ion exchange between the cells and their environment. ... will allow scientist to measure one single ion channel at the time and investigate how different ...

AGU journal highlights: Nov. 11, 2008

... 3. Comet-like tail of ion flux streams from Mars A comet tail has two ... planet such as Mars. Using data from an ion mass analyzer on board the European Space ... ions accelerate to form energetic and structured ion fluxes within the Martian tail. Although other ...

Sensitive laser instrument could aid search for life on Mars

... called ions. The team can then study the ion patterns for signatures that might be specific to ... be embedded in a synthetic matrix that encourages ion formation. But the INL team simply relies on the ... minerals like halite and jarosite yield distinct ion patterns when organic molecules are present. This ...

Study provides insight on a common heart rhythm disorder

... ankyrin-B behaves like a "tugboat," delivering ion channels and anchoring them to specific domains on the cell membrane. These ion channels serve as conduits for the electrical ... plays a similar critical role in organizing ion channels for the sinoatrial node cells, making it ...

Models of eel cells suggest electrifying possibilities

... to flow in and potassium ions to flow out. The ion swap increases the voltage across the membrane, ... numerical model to represent the conversion of ion concentrations to electrical impulses and tested ... membranes separated by an insulated partition and ion channels that could be created by engineering ...

Site used by sodium to control sensitivity of certain potassium ion channels

... how sodium is able to control specific potassium ion channels in cells, according to new study ... understanding of the mechanisms involved in ion channel gating and may one day set the stage for ... be affecting this particular type of potassium ion channel to open it," said Diomedes Logothetis, ....

Researchers catch ion channels in their opening act

... of generating these electrical impulses is the ion channel. A new study by researchers from the ... smaller than one-billionth of a meter in ion channels. This movement is critical to how these ... appear this week in the journal Neuron . ion channels belong to a special class of proteins ...

Europe gets together to harness quantum physics

... the conference in high fidelity quantum gates in ion traps, according to Schmiedmayer. ion traps were the first devices where quantum ... Now with high fidelity quantum operations, ion traps are the ideal platform to build and ...

Gene mutations in mice mimic human-like sleep disorder, UT Southwestern researchers find

... on two genes that encode molecules known as ion channels. An ion channel is a pore that spans a cells membrane, ... The coordinated opening and closing of various ion channels allows nerve cells to carry electrical ...

In Today's Economy, You Can Strengthen Your Company by Building Your Brand

... ion Design Marketing Communications' branding ... marketing efforts and advances your business. ion Design Marketing Communications, a Frederick, ... a better brand. Ruth Bielobocky, Principal of ion Design Marketing Communications, leads the ...

Missions to Mars

... is the only one in Europe able to create ion beams similar to those found in space. To ... have been asked to investigate the effects of ion beams in human cells and organs. The first ... quantitatively examine the biological effects of ion beams on the human genome and to determine how ...

Insects evolved radically different strategy to smell

... The gate, a doughnut-shaped protein called an ion channel, provides a safe pathway for ions to flow ... a cell. When molecules bind to the odor-sensitive ion channel, the protein changes its shape much like ... They then measured how long it took for the ion channel to open and recorded their electrical ...

Researchers 'see' structure of open nicotinic acetylcholine ion channels

... nicotinic receptor is a neurotransmitter-gated ion channel. This gate regulates the flow of ... cell membrane. Although normally closed, when the ion channel encounters acetylcholine or nicotine on ... some researchers obtained images of the closed ion channel. Others used X-ray crystallography to ...

Chloroform provides clue to 150 year old medical puzzle

... the chloroform inhibited, or blocked, the calcium ion channel TRPC5 it was quite a striking effect. ion channels are pathways that allow electrically ... and the timing of the heart beat. TRPC5 calcium ion channels are found in many tissues around the ...

Breakthrough in plant research

... the stomatal pore contain several types of ion channels which control the opening and closing of ... is an intensively-studied topic and several ion channel types that control their activity have ... the mechanisms of stomatal regulation. Unlike the ion channels detected previously, this newly ...

'Electronic switch' opens doors in rheumatoid joints

... a previously unknown natural mechanism that opens ion channels proteins at the cell surface that act ... the naturally occurring protein thioredoxin. ion channels allow movement of ions - electrically ... works in a different manner: it activates an ion channel by donating electrons to it, in a process ...

University of Pittsburgh cardiologists identify new cardiac arrest gene

... In this study we found that GPD1-L, while not an ion channel itself, is a trafficking gene that allows ... and maintain a stable rhythm. To date, only ion channel genes had been shown to cause Brugada ... and identified three mutations. Mutations in ion channels ...

New insight into the mechanisms of voltage sensing and transduction in biological processes

... The voltage sensor of voltage-gated ion channels is a conserved protein domain that ... changes in transmembrane potential, to regulate ion permeation through the channel. A recently ... has a voltage sensor that is coupled not to an ion channel but to a phosphatidylinositide ...

New target for anti-flu drug development

... homeostasis. M2 protein of flu virus forms ion channels allowing ion trafficking into cells that cells no longer ... M2 kills mammalian cells, but also showed that ion channeling through M2 pores may be a molecular ...

Yale team identifies key to potential new treatment for allergy-induced asthma

... in asthmatic inflammation. The new study tracks the role of the ion channel protein TRPA1. While the exact function of TRPA1 in the airway ... completely understood, scientists do know from previous research that this ion channel protein is a sensor for chemical irritants such as cigarette smoke ...

Translating the conversation between the brain and blood vessels

... example. Recently, his team has been looking at which genes regulate ion channels, microscopic gates that move chemicals in and out of cells, and ... with animals, Dr. Abboud and his colleagues deleted one specific ion channel and found that the animals developed high blood pressure. Work is ...

Sudden cardiac death without recognizable cause

... even after a postmortem. Genetically linked diseases of cardiac ion channels are responsible for at least a third of these deaths. As the ion channels are involved in stimulation and conduction in the heart, ...

Forsyth scientists trigger cancer-like response from embryonic stem cells

... tadpole. The body's natural biophysical signals, driven by ion transporter proteins and resulting in endogenous voltage gradients and ... identifies a new role in developmental and cell biology for the KCNQ1 ion channel, and strengthens the link between stem cells and tumor cells. ...

Penn biophysicists create new model for protein-cholesterol interactions in brain and muscle tissue

... properly. The study focused on the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, an ion channel found in both brain and muscle cells. The neurotransmitter ... and muscular processes and is considered the prototype for ligand-gated ion channels, leading to decades of study to determine its structure. Penn ...

Largest study of its kind implicates gene abnormalities in bipolar disorder

... linked to two proteins that may be involved in regulating such ion channels and that are also thought to be targets of drugs used to ... that bipolar disorder might stem, at least in part, from malfunction of ion channels. Sklar, Shaun Purcell, Ph.D., also of MGH and the Stanley ...

FSU, Magnet Lab researchers license critical petroleum data

... of Chemistry and Biochemistry at FSU and director of the magnet lab's ion Cyclotron Resonance Program. "A single heavy petroleum sample, for ... analytical technique co-invented by Marshall known as Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, they have been able to ...

Study identifies brain pathway that shuts down seizures

... from modern genetics and molecular biology to show that an acid-activated ion channel in the brain reacts to a drop in pH (increased acid) in a way that ... reduce brain pH. However, it was the modern discovery of an acid-activated ion channel (ASIC1a) in the brain that provided the key to the UI discovery, ...

Study helps explain how allergic reactions are triggered

... BOSTON In demonstrating that a group of calcium ion channels play a crucial role in triggering inflammatory responses, ... specifically, calcium. Calcium moves in and out of the cells by way of ion channels known as CRAC (calcium-release-activated calcium) currents. Last ...

Wastewater produces electricity and desalinates water

... at Tsinghua University, Beijing, changed the microbial fuel cell by adding a third chamber between the two existing chambers and placing certain ion specific membranes -- membranes that allow either positive or negative ions through, but not both -- between the central chamber and the positive and ...

August 2009 Geology and GSA Today media highlights

... Sulfur isotopes in marine limestones are recorded in two ways: (1) as carbonate-associated-sulfate, or sulfate that is substituted for the carbonate ion in calcium carbonate; and (2) as pyrite. Carbonate-associated sulfate is an oxidized form of sulfur and is interpreted as a proxy for sulfate ...

All-in-1 nanoparticle: A Swiss Army knife for nanomedicine

... the gold shell and the nanoparticle core by using chains of polymer, polyethylene glycol. The distance between the quantum dot core and charged gold ion is determined by the length of the polymer chain and can be increased with nanometer precision by adding links to the chain. On the outside layer ...

Researchers see evidence of memory in the songbird brain

... included a lot of transcription factors that modulate the activity of other genes. Many other genes were downregulated, including those that code for ion channel proteins, which allow ions to flow into the cell. This could be one way that the brain dampens its response to a powerful stimulus, ...

Who will pick up the bill?

... will have on a wide range of businesses from commercial fishing to wholesale, retail and restaurants. Ocean acidification and declining carbonate ion concentration in sea water could directly damage corals and mollusks which all depend on sufficient carbonate levels to form shells successfully. ...

MIT: Jeremy Nathans to deliver Scolnick Prize lecture

... colleagues also determined that the vitelliform type of macular dystrophy is caused by abnormalities in a member of a previously unknown family of ion channels proteins that allow ions to enter and exit cells. ...

AGU journal highlights -- March 25, 2009

... use measurements made on natural coral reef located in the Red Sea to develop relationships between coral reef calcification, temperature, carbonate ion concentrations, and live coral cover. Using these relationships, they find that most coral reefs are already calcifying more slowly than during ...

Common gene variants influence risk factor for sudden cardiac death

... to the development of novel drugs. From studies of families with congenital long-QT syndrome, we know that rare mutations with strong effects on ion channel function lead to QT prolongation and sudden death. But the common genetic basis for QT prolongation has been very difficult to establish." ...