Ion channel signalling articles within Nature

Featured

• Article | 03 April 2024

  Mechanical activation opens a lipid-lined pore in OSCA ion channels

  The molecular basis of OSCA/TMEM63 channel mechanosensitivity was investigated by determining 44 cryogenic electron microscopy structures of channels in different environments, expanding understanding of channel-mediated mechanotransduction and pore formation, with implications for two protein families.

  • Yaoyao Han
  • , Zijing Zhou
  •  & Yixiao Zhang

• Article | 27 January 2021

  A growth-factor-activated lysosomal K⁺ channel regulates Parkinson’s pathology

  The identification of a lysosomal K⁺ channel complex—comprising AKT and the pore-forming TMEM175—provides insights into the mechanisms through which variants of the pore-forming protein affect the development of Parkinson’s disease.

  • Jinhong Wie
  • , Zhenjiang Liu
  •  & Dejian Ren

• Letter | 27 August 2014

  OSCA1 mediates osmotic-stress-evoked Ca²⁺ increases vital for osmosensing in Arabidopsis

  Osmotic stress is known to induce a transient increase in cytoplasmic Ca²⁺ concentration [Ca²⁺]_i in plants, and now OSCA1 is identified as a long-sought Ca²⁺ channel that mediates [Ca²⁺]_i increases—mutants lacking OSCA1 function have impaired osmotic Ca²⁺ signalling in guard cells and root cells, and reduced transpiration regulation and root growth under osmotic stress.

  • Fang Yuan
  • , Huimin Yang
  •  & Zhen-Ming Pei

• Letter | 11 December 2013

  Direct recording and molecular identification of the calcium channel of primary cilia

  Primary cilia are known as specialized calcium signalling compartments on the cell surface, but the ionic permeability and other physiological properties of these protrusions are unknown—this is one of two studies identifying the ion channels that densely populate primary cilia, with direct measurements revealing cilia as a unique, functionally independent calcium signalling compartment that modulates hedgehog signalling pathways.

  • Paul G. DeCaen
  • , Markus Delling
  •  & David E. Clapham