Textbook of Ion Channels Volume II: Properties, Function, and Pharmacology of the Superfamilies

The Textbook of Ion Channels is  a set of three volumes that provides a wide-ranging refer- ence source  on ion channels for students, instructors and researchers. Ion channels  are membrane proteins that control the electrical properties of neurons  and cardiac cells; mediate the detection and response to sensory stimuli  like light, sound, odor, and taste; and regulate the response to  physical stimuli like temperature and pressure. In non-excit- able  tissues, ion channels are instrumental for the regulation of basic salt  balance that is critical for homeostasis. Ion channels are located at  the surface membrane of cells, giving them the unique ability to  communicate with the environment, as well as the membrane of  intracellular organelles, allowing them to regulate internal  homeostasis. Ion channels are fundamentally important for human health  and diseases, and are important targets for pharmaceuticals in mental  illness, heart disease, anesthesia, pain and other clinical appli-  cations. The modern methods used in their study are powerful and  diverse, ranging from single ion-channel measurement techniques to  models of ion channel diseases in animals, and human clinical trials for  ion channel drugs.

Volume II starts  with ion channel taxonomy and features coverage of major ion channel  families, and describes the physiological role, structural components,  gating mechanisms and biophysics, permeation and selectivity,  regulation, pharmacology, and roles in dis- ease mechanisms. Channels in  this volume include voltage-activated sodium, calcium and potassium  channels, inward-rectifier and two-pore domain potassium channels,  calcium- activated potassium channels, cyclic nucleotide-gated channels,  pacemaker ion channels, chloride channels, ligand-gated receptors  activated by acetylcholine, glutamate, 5-HT3,  GABA and glycine, acid-sensing channels, P2X receptors, TRP channels,  store-operated channels, pressure-activated piezo channels, ryanodine  receptors, and proton channels.

All  three volumes give the reader an introduction to fundamental concepts  needed to understand the mechanism of ion channels; a guide to the  technical aspects of ion channel research; offer a modern guide to the  properties of major ion channel families; and include coverage of key  examples of regulatory, physiological and disease roles for ion  channels.