Currents through voltage-gated sodium channels drive action potential depolarization in neurons and other excitable cells. Smaller currents through these channels are key components of currents that control neuronal firing and signal integration. Changes in sodium current have profound effects on neuronal firing. Sodium channels are controlled by neuromodulators acting through phosphorylation o...

In the interest of continuing structure-function studies, highly purified sodium channel preparations from the eel electroplax were incorporated into planar lipid bilayers in the presence of veratridine. This lipoglycoprotein originates from muscle-derived tissue and consists of a single polypeptide. In this study it is shown to have properties analogous to sodium channels from another muscle t...

Voltage-gated sodium channels enable the translocation of sodium ions across cell membranes and play crucial roles in electrical signaling by initiating the action potential. In humans, mutations in sodium channels give rise to several neurological and cardiovascular diseases, and hence they are targets for pharmaceutical drug developments. Prokaryotic sodium channel crystal structures have pro...

Mutations in the para gene specifically affect the expression of sodium currents in Drosophila. While 65% of wild-type embryonic neurons in culture express sodium currents, three distinct mutations in the para locus resulted in a decrease in the fraction of cells from which sodium currents could be recorded. This reduction was allele-dependent: macroscopic sodium currents were exhibited in 49% ...