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Localizing Ion Channels with Scanning Probe Microscopes: A Perspective

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Ion Channel Localization

Part of the book series: Methods in Pharmacology and Toxicology ((MIPT))

Abstract

It is now widely appreciated in cell biology that there are two significant modes, beyond synthesis and degradation, by which the cell can regulate its enzymes: covalent modification and subcellular localization. The former mode may be studied with isolated components, and so may be investigated, to great detail, under a variety of well-controlled conditions. However, the localization of proteins must be studied within the context of the more complicated environment of a cell, and as such, is much more technically challenging. Clear examples of the importance of the subcellular location of proteins on the proper functioning of a cell is well-known in the membrane channel field, with the clusters of channels in the opposing membranes of a synapse or the aggregates of channels within the nodes of Ranvier. However, as studies of rafts (domains within the plasma-membrane-enriched in selected lipids and proteins [1]) have demonstrated, active control of the spatial distribution of membrane proteins, lipids, and cytosolic components at the level of the plasma membrane is likely to be a general mechanism underlying many cellular processes.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics and Biophysics Program, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA

    Daniel M. Czajkowsky & Zhifeng Shao

Authors
  1. Daniel M. Czajkowsky
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  2. Zhifeng Shao
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

    Anatoli N. Lopatin

  2. Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, MO

    Colin G. Nichols

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© 2001 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

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Czajkowsky, D.M., Shao, Z. (2001). Localizing Ion Channels with Scanning Probe Microscopes: A Perspective. In: Lopatin, A.N., Nichols, C.G. (eds) Ion Channel Localization. Methods in Pharmacology and Toxicology. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-118-3:461

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-118-3:461

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-89603-833-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-118-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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