Issues

JGP study describes method to trace the real-time movements of individual membrane proteins in live tissue slices.

In this review, Nathan et al. discuss recent structural insights into the regulation of the Na⁺ channels Na_V1.5 and Na_V1.4, facilitated by the combination of cryo-EM and x-ray crystallography data.

Zhou et al. show that the hyperpolarization-gated K⁺ channel KAT1 shares a homologous divalent cation/proton binding pocket in the external voltage sensor with depolarization-gated EAG family K⁺ channels. Divalent ions/protons inhibit EAG channels but potentiate activation of KAT1.

Meizoso-Huesca and Launikonis describe multiple effects of BTP2, an inhibitor of the Ca²⁺ channel Orai1, on Ca²⁺ handling in skeletal muscle, which include impairment of Ca²⁺ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and indirect effects on the activity of the ryanodine receptors.

Pusch and Zifarelli show that the lysosomal 2 Cl⁻/1 H⁺ antiporter ClC-7 mediates large, transient capacitive currents, which depend on external pH and internal Cl⁻. Unlike in other mammalian CLC antiporters, mutation of a conserved proton glutamate residue in ClC-7 does not abolish transport currents.

Mashanov et al. present a method to image and track individual fluorescently labeled molecules in live cardiac tissue slices using total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy. They show that the movement and interaction of G protein–coupled receptors can be observed in real time.