Abstract

Over the past decade, there has been an explosion in the number of membrane transport proteins that have been shown to be sensitive to the abundance of phosphoinositides in the plasma membrane. These proteins include voltage-gated potassium and calcium channels, ion channels that mediate sensory and nociceptive responses, epithelial transport proteins and ionic exchangers. Each of the regulatory lipids is also under multifaceted regulatory control. Phosphoinositide modulation of membrane proteins in neurons often has a dramatic effect on neuronal excitability and synaptic transmitter release. The repertoire of lipid signalling mechanisms that regulate membrane proteins is intriguingly complex and provides a rich array of topics for neuroscience research.

Author affiliations

1. Institute of Membrane and Systems Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK.
   Email: n.gamper@leeds.ac.uk
2. Department of Physiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78229, USA.
   Email: shapirom@uthscsa.edu

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