OBJECTIVE Anecdotal evidence shows that the Shaker exercise and its modifications improve pharyngeal muscle contraction. However, there is no experimental evidence for the same. Thus, the present study examined the effect of modified Shaker exercise on the amplitude and duration of pharyngeal muscle contraction using cervical auscultation. DESIGN The study follows a cross-sectional study desi...

Charybdotoxin, a peptide neurotoxin of known molecular structure, blocks Shaker K+ channels by binding to a receptor at the outer opening of the ion conduction pathway. Analysis of variants of CTX at position 29 and of Shaker at position 449 shows that these two residues interact closely in the channel-toxin complex. The CTX mutation M29I leads to a slight strengthening of block when tested on ...

Domains in macromolecular complexes are often considered structurally and functionally conserved while energetically coupled to each other. In the modular voltage-gated ion channels the central ion-conducting pore is surrounded by four voltage sensing domains (VSDs). Here, the energetic coupling is mediated by interactions between the S4-S5 linker, covalently linking the domains, and the proxim...

The classical isoperimetric problem seeks the least-area way to enclose a single region of prescribed volume. About 200 BC, Zenodorus argued that a circle is the least-perimeter enclosure of prescribed area in the plane (see [Heath 60]). In 1884, Schwarz [Schwarz 1884] proved by symmetrization that a sphere minimizes surface area for a given volume in R. Isoperimetric problems arise naturally i...

The Shaker locus of Drosophila contains a very large transcription unit. It is expressed predominantly in the nervous system by multiple, differential as well as alternative, splicing mechanisms into different, but functionally related proteins. The structure of the Shaker transcription unit and the properties of the encoded Shaker protein family provide a molecular basis for A channel diversit...

The genome of the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis (starlet sea anemone) provides a molecular genetic view into the first nervous systems, which appeared in a late common ancestor of cnidarians and bilaterians. Nematostella has a surprisingly large and diverse set of neuronal signaling genes including paralogs of most neuronal signaling molecules found in higher metazoans. Several ion channel g...

Shaker testing is commonly used as a method for measuring forced input in experimental modal analysis. The setup of conventional shakers, stingers and transducers is often the source of test difficulties and avoidable measurement errors. This paper reviews the basic design of shakers as beneficial to modal testing, and the common problems associated with setup issues and resulting measurement e...

Recessive mutations in myosin 15, a class XV unconventional myosin, cause profound congenital deafness in humans and both deafness and vestibular dysfunction in mice homozygous for the shaker 2 and shaker 2(J) alleles. The shaker 2 allele is a previously described missense mutation of a highly conserved residue in the motor domain of myosin XV. The shaker 2(J) lesion, in contrast, is a 14.7 kb ...

The quiver/sleepless (qvr/sss) gene encodes a small, glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein that plays a critical role in the regulation of sleep in Drosophila. Loss-of-function mutations in qvr/sss severely suppress sleep and effect multiple changes in in situ Shaker K(+) currents, including decreased magnitude, slower time-to-peak, and cumulative inactivation. Recently, we demonstrated...