Integrins and Ion Channels

Integrins and Ion Channels
Author: Andrea Becchetti
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012-05-27
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9781461425830

Interdisciplinarity is more often invoked than practised. This is hardly surprising, considering the daunting vastness of modern biology. To reach a satisfactory understanding of a complex biological system, a wide spectrum of conceptual and experimental tools must be applied at different levels, from the molecular to the cellular, tissue and organismic. We believe the multifaceted regulatory interplay between integrin receptors and ion channels offers a rich and challenging field for researchers seeking broad biological perspectives. By mediating cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix, integrins regulate many developmental processes in the widest sense (from cell choice between differentiation and proliferation, to tissue remodeling and organogenesis). Rapidly growing evidence shows that frequent communication takes place between cell adhesion receptors and channel proteins. This may occur through formation of multiprotein membrane complexes that regulate ion fluxes as well as a variety of intracellular signaling pathways. In other cases, cross talk is more indirect and mediated by cellular messengers such as G proteins. These interactions are reciprocal, in that ion channel stimulation often controls integrin activation or expression. From a functional standpoint, studying the interplay between integrin receptors and ion channels clarifies how the extracellular matrix regulates processes as disparate as muscle excitability, synaptic plasticity and lymphocyte activation, just to mention a few. The derangement of these processes has many implications for pathogenesis processes, in particular for tumor invasiveness and some cardiovascular and neurologic diseases. This book provides a general introduction to the problems and methods of this blossoming field.

Mechanosensitive Ion Channels

Mechanosensitive Ion Channels
Author: Andre Kamkin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 390
Release: 2007-10-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1402064268

This book explores the latest data dealing with mechanosensitive channels research results. It was compiled by a group of internationally recognized scientists leading in the field of mechanosensitive ion channels or mechanically gated channels and signaling cascades research. Key problems of cell mechanobiology are also discussed. As a whole, the volume dwells on the major issues of mechanical stress influencing the ion channels and intracellular signaling pathways.

Integrins and Ion Channels

Integrins and Ion Channels
Author: Andrea Becchetti
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 138
Release: 2010-12-28
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 144196066X

Interdisciplinarity is more often invoked than practised. This is hardly surprising, considering the daunting vastness of modern biology. To reach a satisfactory understanding of a complex biological system, a wide spectrum of conceptual and experimental tools must be applied at different levels, from the molecular to the cellular, tissue and organismic. We believe the multifaceted regulatory interplay between integrin receptors and ion channels offers a rich and challenging field for researchers seeking broad biological perspectives. By mediating cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix, integrins regulate many developmental processes in the widest sense (from cell choice between differentiation and proliferation, to tissue remodeling and organogenesis). Rapidly growing evidence shows that frequent communication takes place between cell adhesion receptors and channel proteins. This may occur through formation of multiprotein membrane complexes that regulate ion fluxes as well as a variety of intracellular signaling pathways. In other cases, cross talk is more indirect and mediated by cellular messengers such as G proteins. These interactions are reciprocal, in that ion channel stimulation often controls integrin activation or expression. From a functional standpoint, studying the interplay between integrin receptors and ion channels clarifies how the extracellular matrix regulates processes as disparate as muscle excitability, synaptic plasticity and lymphocyte activation, just to mention a few. The derangement of these processes has many implications for pathogenesis processes, in particular for tumor invasiveness and some cardiovascular and neurologic diseases. This book provides a general introduction to the problems and methods of this blossoming field.

Piezo Channels

Piezo Channels
Author:
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2017-07-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0128096217

Piezo Channels, Volume 79, the latest volume in the Current Topics in Membranes series provides the necessary membrane research to assist readers in discovering the current state of a particular field and future directions. New chapters in the updated volume include A Tour de Force: The Discovery, Properties, and Function of Piezo Channels, Piezo1 Channels in Vascular Development and the Sensing of Shear Stress, the Origin of the Force: The Force-From-Lipids Principle Applied to Piezo Channels, Genetic Diseases of PIEZO1 and PIEZO2 Dysfunction, and The Structural Basis for Sensing by the Piezo1 Protein. Users of this series will find an up-to-date presentation of the current knowledge in the field of Piezo Channels. - Written by leading experts in the field - Contains original material, both textual and illustrative, that make it a very relevant reference - Presented in a very comprehensive manner - Ideal reference for both researchers in the field and general readers who will find this book to be relevant and up-to-date

Sigma Receptors: Their Role in Disease and as Therapeutic Targets

Sigma Receptors: Their Role in Disease and as Therapeutic Targets
Author: Sylvia B. Smith
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2017-03-16
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 3319501747

Originally confused with opioid receptors and then orphan receptors with no biological function, Sigma Receptors are now recognized as relevant to many degenerative diseases with remarkable potential as therapeutic targets. In this text, new information about the structure of sigma 1 receptor, its binding sites are provided as well as its expression in many cell types. It’s putative role in degenerative neuronal diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, pain, drug addiction and locomotor activity. Their roles in possible treatments for blinding retinal diseases emphasize the tremendous far-reaching potential for ligands for these receptors. Exciting breakthroughs in this dynamic field in the last decade are reported herein, which will guide future investigators in determining the full potential of this unique, yet abundantly expressed protein.

Mechanosensitive Ion Channels, Part B

Mechanosensitive Ion Channels, Part B
Author:
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 610
Release: 2011-09-21
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0080494404

Current Topics in Membranes provides a systematic, comprehensive, and rigorous approach to specific topics relevant to the study of cellular membranes. Each volume is a guest edited compendium of membrane biology. This series has been a mainstay for practicing scientists and students interested in this critical field of biology. Articles covered in the volume include ENaC Proteins in Vascular Smooth Muscle Mechanotransduction; Regulation of the Mechano-Gated K2P Channel TREK-1 by Membrane Phospholipids; MechanoTRPs and TRPA1; TRPC; The Cytoskeletal Connection to Ion Channels as a Potential Mechanosensory Mechanism. Lessons From Polycystin-2 (TRPP2); Lipid Stress at Play: Mechanosensitivity of Voltage-Gated Channels; Hair Cell Mechanotransduction: The Dynamic Interplay between Structure and Function; Pharmacology of Hair Cell MS Channels; Hair Cell Mechanotransduction; Models of Hair Cell Mechanotrasduction; Touch; Mechanosensitive Ion Channels in Dystrophic Muscle; Mechanotransduction in Endothelial Cells;MS Channels in Tumor Cell Migration; Mechanosensitive Channels in Regulating Smooth Muscle Contraction in the GI; Mechanosensitive Ion Channels in Blood-Pressure-Sensing Baroreceptor Neurons.

Magnesium in the Central Nervous System

Magnesium in the Central Nervous System
Author: Robert Vink
Publisher: University of Adelaide Press
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2011
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0987073052

The brain is the most complex organ in our body. Indeed, it is perhaps the most complex structure we have ever encountered in nature. Both structurally and functionally, there are many peculiarities that differentiate the brain from all other organs. The brain is our connection to the world around us and by governing nervous system and higher function, any disturbance induces severe neurological and psychiatric disorders that can have a devastating effect on quality of life. Our understanding of the physiology and biochemistry of the brain has improved dramatically in the last two decades. In particular, the critical role of cations, including magnesium, has become evident, even if incompletely understood at a mechanistic level. The exact role and regulation of magnesium, in particular, remains elusive, largely because intracellular levels are so difficult to routinely quantify. Nonetheless, the importance of magnesium to normal central nervous system activity is self-evident given the complicated homeostatic mechanisms that maintain the concentration of this cation within strict limits essential for normal physiology and metabolism. There is also considerable accumulating evidence to suggest alterations to some brain functions in both normal and pathological conditions may be linked to alterations in local magnesium concentration. This book, containing chapters written by some of the foremost experts in the field of magnesium research, brings together the latest in experimental and clinical magnesium research as it relates to the central nervous system. It offers a complete and updated view of magnesiums involvement in central nervous system function and in so doing, brings together two main pillars of contemporary neuroscience research, namely providing an explanation for the molecular mechanisms involved in brain function, and emphasizing the connections between the molecular changes and behavior. It is the untiring efforts of those magnesium researchers who have dedicated their lives to unraveling the mysteries of magnesiums role in biological systems that has inspired the collation of this volume of work.

Retinal Pigment Epithelium in Health and Disease

Retinal Pigment Epithelium in Health and Disease
Author: Alexa Karina Klettner
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2020-01-01
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 3030283844

This book provides a contemporary resource on one of the major players in retinal diseases – the Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE). Throughout the book, the physiological and the pathological function of the RPE are covered on equal terms, to help readers to understand the RPE as a whole. Moreover, the development of RPE in diagnostics and therapy are covered, as well as some practical knowledge about RPE experimental models. Retinal Pigment Epithelium in Health and Disease highlights new findings of RPE research and includes the state-of-the-art knowledge of each RPE topic presented. This important feature sets this book apart from other publications, with the chapters following a design which leads from the general to the specific, to give a precise collection of the facts known. The chapters are written by well-known experts that are currently active in the field as consultants, basic scientists, and group leaders, providing expert guidance on the current aspects and future outlooks of this topic.