Latest Ion channels Stories

“The Sodium Theory Revisited” reveals newest developments in nerve function research. UNITED KINGDOM (PRWEB) May 24, 2013 The sodium theory has been elegantly proposed by A.L. Hodkin, A.F. Huxley and B. Katz in the early 1950s, after their experiments on Plymouth squids, to account for the role of sodium and potassium ions in nerve functions. Since then, the electrophysiological techniques and the data acquisition techniques have known amazing developments. In The Sodium Theory...

BALTIMORE, April 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Cerecor Inc, a neuroscience biotech company that develops therapies that have the potential to make a difference in diseases with high unmet medical needs, today announced that it has acquired exclusive, worldwide rights from Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, to develop and commercialize MK-0657, a small molecule NMDA receptor subunit 2B (NR2B) antagonist for all human indications, including depression. There is a...

University of North Carolina Health Care A study from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine offers new insights into how the nervous system processes hot and cold temperatures. The research led by neuroscientist Mark J. Zylka, PhD, associate professor of cell biology and physiology, found an interaction between the neural circuits that detect hot and cold stimuli: cold perception is enhanced when nerve circuitry for heat is inactivated. "This discovery has implications for...

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Are you tired of being cold all the time? Do you wish you could turn the cold off at the push of a button? Well neuroscientists from the University of South Carolina (USC) may have some good news for you. It seems this group of researchers, led by David McKemy, associate professor of neurobiology in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Science, have been able to isolate chilliness at the cellular level, identifying a...

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A group of researchers from Brown University have demonstrated that certain skin cells use a light-sensitive receptor found outside of the eye to detect ultraviolet light and quickly begin producing melanin to prevent DNA damage. The same team, in a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has identified a key player in that biomolecular chain of events that could become a pharmacological target for...

CLEVELAND, Jan. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ChanTest announced today the capability to perform a bioassay in conformance with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP)*. The in vitro assay involves higher throughput Ussing chamber experiments for measuring inhibition of CFTR (Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator) chloride ion channel short circuit current, a measure of chloride ion secretion. ChanTest passed its first regulatory inspection related to this cGMP...

CLEVELAND, Aug. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today ChanTest announces the hiring of Chris Mathes, Ph.D., M.B.A. to lead its business into a new era. Mathes starts September 1(st) as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and will oversee all sales, marketing and customer relations activities at ChanTest. He will also contribute to the forward looking and strategic guidance of ChanTest as a global player in the CRO industry. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120817/CL58977LOGO ) "Chris...

Pathway describes how alpha hydroxyl acids cause skin exfoliation A team of investigators from UC Davis and Peking University have discovered a mechanism that may explain how alpha hydroxyl acids (AHAs) -- the key ingredient in cosmetic chemical peels and wrinkle-reducing creams -- work to enhance skin appearance. An understanding of the underlying process may lead to better cosmetic formulations as well as have medical applications. The findings were published in the Journal of...

A new way to study the role of a critical neurotransmitter in disorders such as epilepsy, anxiety, insomnia, depression, schizophrenia, and alcohol addiction has been developed by a group of scientists led by Gong Chen, an associate professor of biology at Penn State University. The new method involves molecularly engineering a model synapse -- a structure through which a nerve cell sends signals to another cell. This model synapse can precisely control a variety of receptors for the...

Stowers scientists make a surprising find in study of sex- and aggression-triggering vomeronasal organ The vomeronasal organ (VNO) is one of evolution's most direct enforcers. From its niche within the nose in most land-based vertebrates, it detects pheromones and triggers corresponding basic-instinct behaviors, from compulsive mating to male-on-male death matches. A new study from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, published online in Nature Neuroscience on July 29, 2012, extends...