Measuring and evaluating the role of ATP-Sensitive Kchannels in cardiac muscle
January 17th, 2012 Posted by: admin
Publication year: 2012
Source: Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, Available online 3 January 2012
Eirini Kefaloyianni, Li Bao, Michael J. Rindler, Miyoun Hong, Tejaskumar Patel, …
Since ion channels move electrical charge during their activity, they have traditionally been studied using electrophysiological approaches. This was sometimes combined with mathematical models, for example with the description of the ionic mechanisms underlying the initiation and propagation of action potentials in the squid giant axon by Hodgkin and Huxley. The methods for studying ion channels also have strong roots in protein chemistry (limited proteolysis, the use of antibodies, etc.). The advent of the molecular cloning and the identification of genes coding for specific ion channel subunits in the late 1980′s introduced a multitude of new techniques with which to study ion channels and the field has been rapidly expanding ever since (e.g. antibody development against specific peptide sequences, mutagenesis, the use of gene targeting in animal models, determination of their protein structures) and new methods are still in development. This review focuses on techniques commonly employed to examine ion channel function in a electrophysiological laboratory. The focus is on the KATPchannel, but many of the techniques described are also used to study other ion channels.
Highlights
► We review methods for measuring KATPchannel in cardiac muscle ► Methods covered include electrophysiological approaches and mRNA and protein expression ► Other methods discussed include trafficking, complex formation and genetic approaches
