Development of biological tools for the study and modulation of ion channels.

离子通道是可以跨越细胞膜的蛋白质。当离子通道孔打开时，它们被认为是有活性的，允许带电离子如钠、钾、钙或氯从膜的一侧流到另一侧。有许多不同类型的离子通道，它们的活性决定了细胞如何响应外部和内部刺激。它们负责产生和发送神经冲动，心脏跳动，激素释放和肌肉收缩，仅举几例。有数百种不同类型的离子通道蛋白质，但相对较少的化学品可以用来改变离子通道的行为。这使得一些实验变得困难，因为很难找到负责研究人员正在研究的生物事件的特定离子通道。这也意味着开发作用于离子通道的新药的起点很少。由于不可能直接用生物化学方法监测离子通道活性，因此也很难进行实验和开发方法来筛选数千种化学物质以寻找新的调节剂。该项目旨在通过识别粘附在离子通道上的小蛋白和改变离子通道行为的小蛋白来满足这些需求。如果成功，这项技术将产生对英国离子通道研究人员来说非常宝贵的工具和资源。在国际上，它将在生物技术中有许多不同的应用。

Ion channels are proteins that can span the cell membrane. They are said to be active when the ion channel pore is open, permitting charged ions such as sodium, potassium, calcium, or chloride to flow from one side of the membrane to the other. There are many different types of ion channel and their activity determines how the cell responds to external and internal stimuli. They are responsible for generating and sending nerve impulses, the beat of the heart, hormone release, and muscle contraction, to name a few examples. There are hundreds of different types of ion channel protein, but relatively few chemicals that can be used change the behaviour of the ion channel. This makes some experiments difficult because it is difficult to home in on the specific ion channel that is responsible for the biological event that a researcher is investigating. It also means that there are few starting points for the development of new medicines that act on ion channels. Because it is not possible to directly monitor ion channel activity biochemically, it is also difficult to conduct experiments and develop methods to screen thousands of chemicals for new modulators. This project aims to meet these needs by identifying small proteins that stick to ion channels and those that change ion channel behaviour.If successful, this technology will generate tools and resources that will prove invaluable to ion channel researchers in the U.K. and internationally, and will have many different applications in biotechnology.