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Voltage‐gated potassium channels: from hyperexcitability to excitement
Author(s) -
Pongs Olaf
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(99)00535-9
Subject(s) - potassium channel , neuroscience , muscarine , voltage gated potassium channel , calcium activated potassium channel , voltage gated ion channel , chemistry , sk channel , potassium channel blocker , inward rectifier potassium ion channel , ion channel , biophysics , biology , biochemistry , receptor , muscarinic acetylcholine receptor
The superfamily of voltage‐activated potassium channels may express structurally and functionally diverse voltage‐activated potassium channels in the nervous system. The roles of some voltage‐activated potassium channel types, e.g. rapidly inactivating (transiently active type) channels and muscarine sensitive muscarine sensitive channels, are beginning to be understood. They may significantly influence dendritic action‐potential back‐propagation, signal to noise ratios in presynaptic excitability or the responsiveness of a neuron to synaptic input. Inherited disorders related to changes in excitability (episodic ataxia, epilepsy, heart arrhythmia) or to defects in sensory perception (hearing loss) have been associated with mutations in a few voltage‐activated potassium channel genes. Most likely, more voltage‐activated potassium channel genes will be linked to related disorders in the near future.