Sodium channels articles within Nature

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  • Letter |

    The crystal structure of NavRh, a NaChBac orthologue from the marine Rickettsiales sp. HIMB114, defines an ion binding site within the selectivity filter, and reveals several conformational rearrangements that may underlie the electromechanical coupling mechanism.

    • Xu Zhang
    • , Wenlin Ren
    •  & Nieng Yan

  • News & Views |

    Sodium channels in cell membranes have a crucial role in triggering bioelectrical events that lead to processes such as muscle contraction or hormone release. A crystal structure reveals how one such channel might work. See Article p.353

    • Richard Horn

  • Letter |

    A nerve cell sends signals to others through action potentials, which begin at the 'initial segment' of the neuron's axon. Here it is shown that the length of this initial segment increases in bird auditory neurons that have been deprived of auditory stimulation. The resulting increase in intrinsic excitability — the tendency to fire action potentials — represents a new form of neuronal plasticity and might contribute to the maintenance of the auditory pathway after hearing loss.

    • Hiroshi Kuba
    • , Yuki Oichi
    •  & Harunori Ohmori

  • Letter |

    Mammals are repelled by large concentrations of salts but attracted to low concentrations of sodium. In mice, the latter behaviour can be blocked by the ion channel inhibitor amiloride. Here, mice have been produced lacking the drug's target sodium channel, ENaC, specifically in taste receptor neurons. It is confirmed that sodium sensing, like the four other taste modalities (sweet, sour, bitter and umami), is mediated by a dedicated 'labelled line'.

    • Jayaram Chandrashekar
    • , Christina Kuhn
    •  & Charles S. Zuker

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