Ion channels underlie a broad range of the most basic biological processes, from excitation and signaling to secretion and absorption. Like enzymes, they are diverse and ubiquitous macromolecular catalysts with high substrate specificity and subject to strong regulation. This fully revised and expanded Third Edition of Ion Channels of Excitable Membranes describes the known channels and their physiological functions, then develops the conceptual background needed to understand their architecture and molecular mechanisms of operation. It includes new chapters on calcium signaling, structural biology, and molecular biology and genomics. Ion Channels of Excitable Membranes begins with the classical biophysical work of Hodgkin and Huxley, continues with the roles of channels in cellular signaling, then develops the physical and molecular principles needed for explaining permeation, gating, pharmacological modification, and molecular diversity, and ends with a discussion of channel evolution. Ion Channels of Excitable Membranes is written to be accessible and interesting to life scientists and physical scientists of all kinds. It introduces all the concepts that a graduate student should be aware of but is also effective in advanced undergraduate courses. It has long been the recognized authoritative overview of this field used by all neuroscientists.


About the Author:

BERTIL HILLE teaches at the University of Washington. He won the 1999 Albert Lasker Award.

Ch. 1 Introduction 1

Pt. I Description of Channels
Ch. 2 Classical Biophysics of the Squid Giant Axon 25
Ch. 3 The Superfamily of Voltage-Gated Channels 61
Ch. 4 Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels 95
Ch. 5 Potassium Channels and Chloride Channels 131
Ch. 6 Ligand-Gated Channels of Fast Chemical Synapses 169
Ch. 7 Modulation, Slow Synaptic Action, and Second Messengers 201
Ch. 8 Sensory Transduction and Excitable Cells 237
Ch. 9 Calcium Dynamics, Epithelial Transport, and Intercellular Coupling 269

Pt. II Principles and Mechanisms of Function
Ch. 10 Elementary Properties of Ions in Solution 309
Ch. 11 Elementary Properties of Pores 347
Ch. 12 Counting Channels and Measuring Fluctuations 377
Ch. 13 Structure of Channel Proteins 405
Ch. 14 Selective Permeability: Independence 441
Ch. 15 Selective Permeability: Saturation and Binding 471
Ch. 16 Classical Mechanisms of Block 503
Ch. 17 Structure-Function Studies of Permeation and Block 539
Ch. 18 Gating Mechanisms: Kinetic Thinking 575
Ch. 19 Gating: Voltage Sensing and Inactivation 603
Ch. 20 Modification of Gating in Voltage-Sensitive Channels 635
Ch. 21 Cell Biology and Channels 663
Ch. 22 Evolution and Origins 693

References 723

Index 788