Receptors and Ion Channels

Receptors and ion channels.

Perspectives in Diabetes Sulfonylurea Receptors, Ion Channels, and Fruit Flies

Recent studies have identified a high-affinity receptor on the plasma membrane of the p-cell that is specific for all of the sulfonylureas. The most potent secondgeneration drugs, glyburide and glipizide, bind to the receptor and trigger insulin release at nanomolar concentrations. The affinity to the receptor-ligand interaction of all sulfonylureas correlates with their potency as insulin secr...

Receptors, ion channels, and signaling mechanisms underlying microglial dynamics.

Microglia, the innate immune cells of the CNS, play a pivotal role in brain injury and disease. Microglia are extremely motile; their highly ramified processes constantly survey the brain parenchyma, and they respond promptly to brain damage with targeted process movement toward the injury site. Microglia play a key role in brain development and function by pruning synapses during development, ...

Autoantibodies to Neurotransmitter Receptors and Ion Channels in Psychotic Disorders

Cell surface antibody–associated central nervous system disorders have emerged in the last decade as a novel field in neuroimmunology. It is now well known that patients with antibodies to ion channels such as N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor and voltage-gated potassium channel-complex manifest with prominent psychiatric symptoms and particularly psychosis early in the disease course. In this revi...

Sigma receptors and cancer: possible involvement of ion channels.

The sigma (sigma) receptor and its agonists have been implicated in a myriad of cellular functions, biological processes and diseases. Whereas the precise molecular mechanism(s) of sigma receptors and their involvement in cancer cell biology have not been elucidated, recent work has started to shed some light on these issues. A molecular model has been proposed for the cloned sigma1 receptor; t...