There are nine recognized members of the voltage-gated Na+ channel family (VGSC; Nav1.1Nav1.9). Of these, Nav1.1, Nav1.2, Nav1.3 and Nav1.6 are highly (but not exclusively) expressed in the central nervous system (CNS), whereas Nav1.7, Nav1.8 and Nav1.9 demonstrate a more restricted expression pattern in autonomic and sensory neurons of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Nav1.4 and Nav1.5 rep...

Voltage-gated Na(+) channels (VGSCs) are responsible for the rising phase of the action potential in excitable cells, including neurons and skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Small alterations in gating properties can lead to severe changes in cellular excitability, as evidenced by the plethora of heritable conditions attributed to mutations in VGSCs highlighting the need to better understand VGSC ...

We describe the identification in aphids of a unique heterodimeric voltage-gated sodium channel which has an atypical ion selectivity filter and, unusually for insect channels, is highly insensitive to tetrodotoxin. We demonstrate that this channel has most likely arisen by adaptation (gene fission or duplication) of an invertebrate ancestral mono(hetero)meric channel. This is the only identifi...

BACKGROUND cis-9,10-Octadecenoamide (cOA) accumulates in cerebrospinal fluid during sleep deprivation and induces sleep in animals, but its cellular actions are poorly characterized. In earlier studies, like a variety of anesthetics, cOA modulated gamma-aminobutyric acidA receptors and inhibited transmitter release/burst firing in cultured neurones or synaptoneurosomes. METHODS Here, radiolig...

Eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) is a once daily new third generation antiepileptic drug that shares the basic chemical structure of carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine - a dibenzazepine nucleus with the 5-carboxamide substituent, but is structurally different at the 10,11-position. ESL is a pro-drug metabolized to its major active metabolite eslicarbazepine. Despite the fact that the exact mechanism ...

Guo F, Zhou PD, Gao QH, Gong J, Feng R, Xu XX, Liu SY, Hu HY, Zhao MM, Adam HC, Cai JQ, Hao LY. Low-Mg treatment increases sensitivity of voltage-gated Na channels to Ca /calmodulin-mediated modulation in cultured hippocampal neurons. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 308: C594 –C605, 2015. First published February 4, 2015; doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00174.2014.— Culture of hippocampal neurons in low-Mg mediu...

Despite an established link between epilepsy and sleep behavior, it remains unclear how specific epileptogenic mutations affect sleep and subsequently influence seizure susceptibility. Recently, Sun et al. (2012) created a fly knock-in model of human generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+), a wide-spectrum disorder characterized by fever-associated seizing in childhood and lifel...

The fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda is an economically important pest of small grain crops that occurs in all maize growing regions of the Americas. The intensive use of chemical pesticides for its control has led to the selection of resistant populations, however, to date, the molecular mechanisms underlying resistance have not been characterised. In this study the mechanisms involved in t...

The development of abnormal primary sensory neuron excitability and neuropathic pain symptoms after peripheral nerve injury is associated with altered expression of voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) and a modification of sodium currents. To investigate whether the beta2 subunit of VGSCs participates in the generation of neuropathic pain, we used the spared nerve injury (SNI) model in rats t...