Sinauer Associates, Incorporated, 2001. — 814 p.Ion channels underlie a broad range of the most basic biological processes, from excitation and signaling to secretion and absorption. Like enzymes, they are diverse and ubiquitous macromolecular catalysts with high substrate specificity and subject to strong regulation. This fully revised and expanded Third Edition of Ion Channels of Excitable Membranes describes the known channels and their physiological functions, then develops the conceptual background needed to understand their architecture and molecular mechanisms of operation. It includes new chapters on calcium signaling, structural biology, and molecular biology and genomics. Ion Channels of Excitable Membranes begins with the classical biophysical work of Hodgkin and Huxley, continues with the roles of channels in cellular signaling, then develops the physical and molecular principles needed for explaining permeation, gating, pharmacological modification, and molecular diversity, and ends with a discussion of channel evolution. Ion Channels of Excitable Membranes is written to be accessible and interesting to life scientists and physical scientists of all kinds. It introduces all the concepts that a graduate student should be aware of but is also effective in advanced undergraduate courses. It has long been the recognized authoritative overview of this field used by all neuroscientists.Introduction
Description of Channels
Classical Biophysics of the Squid Giant Axon
The Superfamily of Voltage-Gated Channels
Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels
Potassium Channels and Chloride Channels
Ligand-Gated Channels of Fast Chemical Synapses
Modulation, Slow Synaptic Action, and Second Messengers
Sensory Transduction and Excitable Cells
Calcium Dynamics, Epithelial Transport, and Intercellular Coupling
Principles and Mechanisms of Function
Elementary Properties of Ions in Solution
Elementary Properties of Pores
Counting Channels and Measuring Fluctuations
Structure of Channel Proteins
Selective Permeability: Independence
Selective Permeability: Saturation and Binding
Classical Mechanisms of Block
Structure-Function Studies of Permeation and Block
Gating Mechanisms: Kinetic Thinking
Gating: Voltage Sensing and Inactivation
Modification of Gating in Voltage-Sensitive Channels
Cell Biology and Channels
Evolution and Origins
References
Index
