Researchers at Leipzig University and TU Dresden have succeeded in developing biological switches that can selectively turn ion channels on and off using light pulses. Initial applications show that ...

Researchers decipher the function of an ion channel involved in cellular degradation processes and create new possibilities for Parkinson’s therapies.

Cells send electrical impulses throughout the body, but electrophysiologists struggled to tune into these signals until the patch clamp technique was developed. Although biophysicist Bernard Katz from ...

A new study has rewritten the conventionally understood evolutionary history of certain ion channels -- proteins critical for electrical signaling in the nervous system. The study shows that the ...

Every hug, every handshake, every dexterous act engages and requires touch perception, and so understanding the molecular basis of touch is important. But to date, scientists had only known about one ...

Researchers have discovered how an ion channel in the brain's neurons has a kind of 'molecular memory', which contributes to the formation and preservation of lifelong memories. The researchers have ...

Lysosomes are the recycling centers of human cells. Larger molecules are broken down inside the membrane-enclosed vesicles. Malfunctions can lead to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.