Chapter category: Channels and Transporters
Role of beta Subunits in Voltage-Gated Calcium Channel Functions
Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels
Edited by: Gerald W. ZamponiISBN: 0-306-47840-4
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Chapter authors:
Thierry Cens, Sophie Restituito, Matthieu Rousset and Pierre Charnet
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Additional chapters from this book:
Exploring the Function and Pharmacotherapeutic of Potential Voltage-Gated Ca2+ Channels with Gene-Knockout Models
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The importance of the intracellular free Ca2+ concentration as a key cellular signal transduction mechanism requires a tight control of Ca2+ homeostasis thus enabling the independent regulation of f...
Block of Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels by Peptide Toxins
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Structurally, the calcium channels are closely related to sodium channels, with the main structurally significant difference being the positioning and nature of the residues that line the selectivit...
Calcium Channel Block and Inactivation: Insights from Structure-Activity Studies
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During an action potential calcium (Ca2+) ions enter the cell through voltage-gated Ca2+ channels (Cav). Cav channels first open and subsequently close before recovering to the resting state (Fig. 1...
The Molecular Basis of Ca2+ Antagonist Drug Action-Recent Developments
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Nifedipine and other dihydropyridines (DHPs), verapamil (a phenylalkylamine, PAA) and diltiazem (a benzothiazepine, BTZ) are widely clinically used to treat cardiovas cular disorders, such as hypert...
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Advances based on experiment and theory are converging upon a structural description of the selectivity mechanism of voltage-gated calcium channels. The emerging description differs from that for po...
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The modulation of presynaptic calcium channels following the activation of G-protein coupled receptors is a key regulatory mechanism of synaptic transmission. The past two decades have yielded a tre...
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The Ca2+ channel exhibits multiple interactions at the presynaptic terminal. Not only is the channel critical for the action potential-gated influx of Ca2+ ions that leads to the activation of the t...
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Abstract The passage of Ca2+ ions through voltage-gated Ca2+ channels triggers a wide range of signaling pathways but also fundamentally regulates further Ca2+ influx through these channels. Cav1.2...
Biochemical Studies of Voltage- Gated Ca2+ Channels
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Voltage-gated Ca2+ channels mediate Ca2+ entry into cells in response to membrane depolarization. Electrophysiological studies reveal different Ca2+ currents designated L-, N-, P-, Q-, R-, and T-typ...
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Many cellular functions are directly or indirectly regulated by the free cytosolic calcium concentration. Thus, calcium levels must be very tightly regulated in time, space and amount. Intracellular...
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The stretch reflex represents the best-known and longest studied neural circuit. Unlike sensory circuits, for example in the visual system, the stretch reflex connects an external input to a behavio...
Phosphorylation-Dependent Regulation of Voltage-Gated Ca2+ Channels
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Neurotransmitters, hormones, growth factors and extracellular matrix proteins bind to cell membrane receptors that, in turn, activate intracellular signaling cascades. Often, these cascades involve ...
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Voltage-dependent calcium channels link membrane potential changes of excitable cells to important intracellular processes, including regulated secretion of neurotransmitters and hormones, muscle co...
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Early electrophysiological recordings from neurons, muscle and endocrine cells revealed voltage-activated calcium (Ca2+) currents with distinct characteristics, suggesting the existence of two major...
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The fast inactivation of voltage-dependent calcium channels is an important, intrinsic regulatory mechanism that helps to precisely control the amount of calcium entering excitable cells during memb...
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Ca channel-mediated synaptic transmission and calcium signaling in the retina reveals neurobiological solutions to a diversity of signal processing challenges. In rod and cone photoreceptors, graded...
Selective Permeability of Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels
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Advances based on experiment and theory are converging upon a structural description of the selectivity mechanism of voltage-gated calcium channels. The emerging descrip tion differs from that for p...
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Imaging fluorescent chemical indicators specific for calcium (Ca2+) has provided important insights into our current understanding of the many Ca2+ regulated cellular processes in the brain such as ...
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The activity of many types of calcium channels decreases rapidly when contact between membrane and cytosol is disrupted. This phenomenon, called run-down, is wide spread among voltage gated calcium ...
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Thierry Cens, Sophie Restituito, Matthieu Rousset and Pierre Charnet
Ca2+ channel auxiliary subunits have been suspected to play fundamental roles in channel function from their early biochemical characterization (see Chapter 4 ). Their strong association with the ma...
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In the sixties, the first Ca2+ currents were recorded by voltage-clamp techniques on multi-cellular cardiac strips 1-4 It is only since 1980 that the development of enzymatic dissociation method...
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Genomic mining, the process of sifting through billions of genomic and EST sequences of several different species has led to the molecular identification of a family of low voltage activating ch...
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Calcium ions play a critical role in most if not all cellular processes. It has even been demonstrated that Ca2+ currents in root tips, in combination with gravity, are re sponsible for their dow...
