Besides its role in digestion and nutrient absorption, the crustacean gut participates in osmo/ionic regulation. We investigate microanatomy, ionic permeability and transepithelial electrophysiological parameters in the mid- and hindguts of three hyperosmoregulating crabs that inhabit estuarine waters (Chasmagnathus granulata), brackish mangrove swamp (Sesarma rectum) or freshwater (Dilocarcinu...

The ion selectivity of nanopores due to the wall surface charges is capable of inducing strong coupling between fluidic and ionic motion within the system. This interaction opens up the prospect of operating nanopores as nanoscale devices for electrokinetic energy conversion. However, the very short channel lengths make the ionic movement and fluidics inside the pore to be substantially affecte...

Voltage is an important parameter that regulates the conductance of both intercellular and plasma membrane channels (undocked hemichannels) formed by the 21 members of the mammalian connexin gene family. Connexin channels display two forms of voltage-dependence, rectification of ionic currents and voltage-dependent gating. Ionic rectification results either from asymmetries in the distribution ...

Protein translocation across the bacterial membrane occurs at the SecY complex or channel. The resting SecY channel is impermeable to small molecules owing to a plug domain that creates a seal. Here, we report that a channel loosely sealed, or with a plug locked open, does not, however, lead to general membrane permeability. Instead, strong selectivity towards small monovalent anions, especiall...

Nanopipettes are becoming extremely versatile and powerful tools in nanoscience for a wide variety of applications from imaging to nanoscale sensing. Herein, the capabilities of nanopipettes to build complex free-standing three-dimensional (3D) nanostructures are demonstrated using a simple double-barrel nanopipette device. Electrochemical control of ionic fluxes enables highly localized delive...

The patch clamp technique was first used by Neher and Sakmann (1976) to resolve currents through single acetylcholine-activated channels in cell-attached patches of membrane of frog skeletal muscle. The method they used (described by Neher, Sakmann & Steinbach, 1978) and subsequent refinements (Hamill, Marty, Neher, Sakmann & Sigworth, 1981) have led to techniques for high resolution recording ...

Salinization of freshwater ecosystems as a result of human activities has markedly increased in recent years. Much attention is currently directed at evaluating the effects of increased salinity on freshwater biota. In the Central Appalachian region of the eastern United States, specific conductance from alkaline discharges associated with mountain top mining practices has been implicated in ma...

This paper reports on the construction and predictive models for an engineered tethered membrane. A key feature of the engineered membrane is that it provides a controllable and physiologically relevant environment for the study of the electroporation process. The mixed self-assembled membrane is formed via a rapid solvent exchange technique. The membrane is tethered to the gold electrode and i...

Maurotoxin, a 34-amino acid toxin from Scorpio maurus scorpion venom, was examined for its ability to inhibit cloned human SK (SK1, SK2, and SK3), IK1, and Slo1 calcium-activated potassium (K(Ca)) channels. Maurotoxin was found to produce a potent inhibition of Ca(2+)-activated (86)Rb efflux (IC(50), 1.4 nM) and inwardly rectifying potassium currents (IC(50), 1 nM) in CHO cells stably expressin...

Amino acid/K+ symport (cotransport) across a model epithelium, the lepidopteran midgut, is energized by an electrogenic H+ V-ATPase (H+ pump) in parallel with an electrophoretic K+/H+ antiporter (exchanger). Attempts to analyze this process using well-known equilibrium thermodynamic equations (Nernst, Gibbs), diffusion equations (Nernst, Planck, Einstein, Goldman, Hodgkin, Katz) and equations b...