Ion channels in the human red blood cell membrane: their further investigation and physiological relevance

✍ Scribed by Lars Kaestner; Ingolf Bernhardt

• Book ID: 104443904
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 98 KB
• Volume: 55
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1567-5394
• DOI: 10.1016/s1567-5394(01)00164-5

✦ Synopsis

Using the patch-clamp technique, two different ion channels have been characterized further in the human red blood cell (RBC) membrane. We demonstrate that the non-selective cation channel (NSC) is permeable to Ca 2 + and can be activated by prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ). Therefore, the physiological role of this channel could be, together with the Ca 2 + -activated K + channel, the participation in the process of blood clot formation. We give also evidence that another channel in the RBC membrane, so far assumed to be a small conductance anion channel, is more likely to be a proton or a hydroxyl ion channel.