Calcium-activated potassium (KCa) channels are ubiquitously expressed throughout the body and are able to regulate membrane potential and intracellular calcium concentrations, thereby playing key roles in cellular physiology and signal transmission....
KCa3.1 encodes the intermediate-conductance calcium-activated potassium channel KCa3.1, a regulator of membrane potential and calcium-dependent signalling in cardiovascular and immune cells. Increasing evidence indicates that KCa3.1 is a shared drive...
Abstract: The epithelial intermediate-conductance calcium/calmodulin-regulated KCa3.1 channel is considered to be a regulator of intestine function by controlling chloride secretion and water/salt balance. Yet, little is known about the functional im...
We report the critical current density (Jc) and vortex pinning properties in single crystals of a novel iron-based superconductor (IBS) KCa2Fe4As4F2 with large Jc in the pristine state, before and after introduction of artificial defects by swift-par...
Glioblastoma (GBM) is a deadly brain tumor, with fast recurrence even after surgical intervention, radio- and chemotherapies. One of the reasons for relapse is the early invasion of surrounding brain parenchyma by GBM, rendering tumor eradication dif...
Cell migration and invasion in glioblastoma (GBM), the most lethal form of primary brain tumors, are critically dependent on Ca2+ signaling. Increases of [Ca2+]i in GBM cells often result from Ca2+ release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), promote...
PIEZO1 are Ca2+-permeable mechanogated channels that play a crucial role in numerous fundamental cellular responses. Ca2+ influx via PIEZO1 could control the activity of various Ca2+-dependent molecules within the cells, thus activating Ca2+-dependen...
Degranulation mediated killing mechanism by NK cells is dependent on store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) and has optimum at moderate intracellular Ca2+ elevations so that partial block of SOCE optimizes the killing process. In this study, we tested the...
A novel peptide, Cm39, was identified in the venom of the scorpion Centruroides margaritatus. Its primary structure was determined. It consists of 37 amino acid residues with a MW of 3980.2 Da. The full chemical synthesis and proper folding of Cm39 w...
K+ channels are involved in many critical functions in lung physiology. Recently, the family of Ca2+-activated K+ channels (KCa) has received more attention, and a massive amount of effort has been devoted to developing selective medications targetin...
Ion channels of T cells (Kv1.3, KCa3.1, and CRAC) participate in the regulation of activation and effector functions via modulation of the Ca2+-dependent pathway. T cells expressing chimeric antigen receptors (CAR T cells) showed a remarkable role in...
Screening novel narrow-band phosphors inspired by natural mineral structures is urgently demanded for improving the performance of phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes. In this work, a novel narrow-band deep-blue-emitting tungsten bronze-type KCa...
Scorpion venoms are a rich source of peptides that modulate the activity of ion channels and can serve as a new drug for channelopathies. Cvill6 and Cvill7 are two new peptides isolated from the venom of Centruroides villegasi with MW of 4277 Da and...
The aim of this study was to investigate the hemodynamic effects of SKA-31, an activator of the small (KCa2.x) and intermediate (KCa3.1) conductance calcium-activated potassium channels, and to evaluate its influence on endothelium-derived hyperpolar...
KCa3.1 K+ channels reportedly contribute to the proliferation of breast tumor cells and may serve pro-tumor functions in the microenvironment. The putative interaction of KCa3.1 with major anti-cancer treatment strategies, which are based on cytotoxi...
VGF gene encodes for a neuropeptide precursor of 68 kDa composed by 615 (human) and 617 (rat, mice) residues, expressed prevalently in the central nervous system (CNS), but also in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and in various endocrine cells. T...
Several tumor entities have been reported to overexpress KCa3.1 potassium channels due to epigenetic, transcriptional, or post-translational modifications. By modulating membrane potential, cell volume, or Ca2+ signaling, KCa3.1 has been proposed to...
Systemic hypertension is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease and is often associated with endothelial dysfunction. KCa2.3 and KCa3.1 channels are expressed in the vascular endothelium and contribute to stimulus-evoked va...
Anderson–Fabry disease (AFD) is a rare disease with an incidenceof approximately 1:117,000 male births. Lysosomal accumulation of globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) is the element characterizing Fabry disease due to a hereditary deficiency α-galactosidase A...
Background/Objectives: The Ca2+-activated K+ channel KCa3.1 is not only involved in physiological processes such as immune reactions and control of vascular tone, but is highly expressed in various tumor entities. Thus, imaging of KCa3.1 channels com...
Hypertension-induced erectile dysfunction is associated with endothelial dysfunction in the corpus cavernosum. Membrane depolarization activates the NLRP3 inflammasome, with downregulation of endothelial Ca2+-activated K+ channels type 2.3 (KCa 2.3)...
The large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel, KCa1.1, plays a pivotal role in cancer progression, metastasis, and the acquisition of chemoresistance. Previous studies indicated that the pharmacological inhibition of KCa1.1 overcame resistance to d...
The immunological synapse (IS) is a specialized contact area formed between a T cell and an antigen presenting cell (APC). Besides molecules directly involved in antigen recognition such as the TCR/CD3 complex, ion channels important in the membrane...
The up-regulated expression of the Ca2+-activated K+ channel KCa3.1 in inflammatory CD4+ T cells has been implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) through the enhanced production of inflammatory cytokines, such as interferon...
Although early reperfusion after stroke salvages the still-viable ischemic tissue, peri-infarct selective neuronal loss (SNL) can cause sensorimotor deficits (SMD). We designed a longitudinal protocol to assess the effects of cytoprotectants on SMD,...
Vitamin D (VD) reduces the risk of breast cancer and improves disease prognoses. Potential VD analogs are being developed as therapeutic agents for breast cancer treatments. The large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel KCa1.1 regulates intracellul...
Several types of K+ channels play crucial roles in tumorigenicity, stemness, invasiveness, and drug resistance in cancer. Spheroid formation of human prostate cancer (PC) LNCaP cells with ultra-low attachment surface cultureware induced the up-regula...
Generalized lymphatic anomaly (GLA) is a congenital, non-neoplastic vascular anomaly characterized by diffuse or multifocal involvement and infiltration of multiple organs. Most GLA cases harbor “hotspot” somatic missense single nucleotid...
Collateral artery growth (arteriogenesis) involves the proliferation of vascular endothelial cells (ECs) and smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Whereas the proliferation of ECs is directly related to shear stress, the driving force for arteriogenesis, littl...
The proper use of potassium fertilizer can stimulate a significant yield increase. However, the application of excessively high rates of potassium can reduce the availability of soil calcium for apple trees. The potassium fertigation rate must meet t...
Background and Clinical Significance: Up to 30% of patients with HR+/HER2-early breast cancer (eBC) may experience distant recurrence, and patients with high-risk clinical features have a higher likelihood of recurrence. For these patients, the addit...
Uterine contractions prior to 37 weeks gestation can result in preterm labor with significant risk to the infant. Current tocolytic therapies aimed at suppressing premature uterine contractions are largely ineffective and cause serious side effects....
Peptide Lv is a small endogenous secretory peptide that is proangiogenic through hyperpolarizing vascular endothelial cells (ECs) by enhancing the current densities of KCa3.1 channels. However, it is unclear how peptide Lv enhances these currents. On...
M2-like macrophages contribute to the establishment of immunosuppressive microenvironments through coordinated activation of inflammatory and metabolic programs. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) catalyzes prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production, whereas arginase-1...
Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) using the autologous saphenous vein (SV) remains widely performed for obstructive atherosclerosis; however, vein graft disease drives recurrent ischaemia through early thrombosis and progressive intimal hyperpla...
Effective delivery of oxygen and essential nutrients to vital organs and tissues throughout the body requires adequate blood flow supplied through resistance vessels. The intimate relationship between intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) and regulation of...
Ca2+ ions play a variety of roles in the human body as well as within a single cell. Cellular Ca2+ signal transduction processes are governed by Ca2+ sensing and Ca2+ transporting proteins. In this review, we discuss the Ca2+ and the Ca2+-sensing ion...
We investigated the role of the intermediate-conductance, Ca2+-activated K+ channel KCa3.1 and volume-regulatory anion channel LRRC8A in regulating C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) expression in THP-1-differentiated M2 macrophages (M2-MACs), which...
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked disease, caused by a mutant dystrophin gene, leading to muscle membrane instability, followed by muscle inflammation, infiltration of pro-inflammatory macrophages and fibrosis. The calcium-activated po...
THP-1-differentiated macrophages are useful for investigating the physiological significance of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). In the tumor microenvironment (TME), TAMs with the M2-like phenotype play a critical role in promoting cancer progres...
Ramelteon is a Melatonin 1 (MT1)—and Melatonin 2 (MT2)—receptor agonist conferring cardioprotection by pharmacologic preconditioning. While activation of mitochondrial calcium-sensitive potassium (mKCa)-channels is involved in this protec...
The tumor suppressor gene F-box and WD repeat domain-containing (FBXW) 7 reduces cancer stemness properties by promoting the protein degradation of pluripotent stem cell markers. We recently demonstrated the transcriptional repression of FBXW7 by the...
To advance the development of bronchodilators for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), this study was designed to investigate the mechanism of functional antagonism between β2-adrenergic and muscarinic M2 receptors, focusing...
Human malignancies are one of the major health-related issues throughout the world and are anticipated to rise in the future. Despite huge investments made in anticancer drug development, limited success has been obtained and the average number of FD...
Reportedly, the intermediate-conductance Ca2+-activated potassium channel KCa3.1 contributes to the invasion of glioma cells into healthy brain tissue and resistance to temozolomide and ionizing radiation. Therefore, KCa3.1 has been proposed as a pot...
Sesquiterpenes such as leucodin and the labdane-type diterpene manool are natural compounds endowed with remarkably in vitro vasorelaxant and in vivo hypotensive activities. Given their structural similarity with the sesquiterpene lactone (+)-sclareo...
Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii) venom causes a range of clinical effects in humans. Hypotension is an uncommon but severe complication of Russell’s viper envenoming. The mechanism(s) responsible for this effect are unclear. In this stud...
This study examines the problem of the fragmentation of asynchronous online discourse by using the Knowledge Connection Analyzer (KCA) framework and tools and explores how students could use the KCA data in classroom reflections to deepen their knowl...
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous group of tumors characterized by aggressive behavior, high risk of distant recurrence, and poor survival. Chemotherapy is still the main therapeutic approach for this subgroup of patients, there...
Potassium channels are widely distributed integral proteins responsible for the effective and selective transport of
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