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Ion channels

Shake, rattle or roll?

Nature volume 427, pages 499–500 (2004)Cite this article

Nerve transmission depends on voltage-gated ion-channel proteins, which in turn depend on the behaviour of a membrane domain called the voltage sensor. Therein lies the latest episode in a continuing story.

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Figure 1: Composition of one subunit of a voltage-dependent K+ channel.
Figure 2: Models of voltage-sensor behaviour; the voltage sensors' change from the ‘in’ to the ‘out’ position triggers pore opening.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tufts-New England Medical Center and Department of Neuroscience, Molecular Cardiology Research Institute, Tufts Medical School, 750 Washington Street, Boston, 02111, Massachusetts, USA

    Robert O. Blaustein

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Brandeis University, Waltham, 02454, Massachusetts, USA

    Christopher Miller

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  1. Robert O. Blaustein
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  2. Christopher Miller
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Blaustein, R., Miller, C. Shake, rattle or roll?. Nature 427, 499–500 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/427499a

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