Hv Physiology: Breast Cancer
In this post I will discuss the role of human Hv1 channels in promoting the pathology and invasiveness of breast cancers. It is well known that cancer consists of normal cells gone awry. As cells age, they can accumulate mutations in their genomes and sometimes these mutations lead to unregulated growth and expansion. The unregulated, … Continue reading
Hv Physiology: Brain Damage
Thanks to the groundbreaking work of Hodgking and Huxley, the most well known physiological role of voltage-gated ion channels is the propagation of the action potential in neurons (Hodgkin & Huxley, 1952). What Hodgkin and Huxley demonstrated was that the action potential is generated by the sequential opening and closing of voltage-gated Na+ and K+ … Continue reading
The Mechanism of Voltage Gating in Potassium Channels? – Part 2 Activation
OK, time for part 2. If you missed part 1 of this two post series check it out here. Just to recap, I am discussing the recent Science paper (April 13th issue) from the D.E. Shaw Research group, entitled “The Mechanism of Voltage Gating in Potassium Channels.” In this paper, Jensen et al. use their … Continue reading
Hv Physiology: Human Male Fertility
The human voltage-gated proton channel Hv1 plays an important physiological role in male fertility in humans. Specifically it is integral for regulation of the internal pH of the sperm cell. The pH of the sperm cytoplasm is a major regulator of sperm cell motility, capacitation, hyperctivation and the acrosome reaction. Each of these processes are … Continue reading
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