Ion Channels and Disease

by Frances Ashcroft

Ion channels are membrane proteins that act as gated pathways for the movement of ions across cell membranes. They play essential roles in the physiology of all cells. In recent years, an ever-increasing number of human and animal diseases have been found to result from defects in ion channel function. Most of these diseases arise from mutations in the genes encoding ion channel proteins, and they are now referred to as the channelopathies. Ion Channels and Disease provides an informative and up-to-date account of our present understanding of ion channels and the molecular basis of ion channel diseases. It includes a basic introduction to the relevant aspects of molecular biology and biophysics and a brief description of the principal methods used to study channelopathies. For each channel, the relationship between its molecular structure and its functional properties is discussed and ways in which genetic mutations produce the disease phenotype are considered. This book is intended for research workers and clinicians, as well as graduates and advanced undergraduates. The text is clear and lively and assumes little knowledge, yet it takes the reader to frontiers of what is currently known about this most exciting and medically important area of physiology.

Genres: Science

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Frances Ashcroft MA PhD FRS is a British physiologist. She is Royal Society GlaxoSmithKline Research Professor in the University of Oxford. She is a fellow of Trinity College and, with Kay Davies and Peter Donnelly is a director of the Oxford Centre for Gene Function.

Her research group has an international reputation for work on insulin secretion, type II diabetes and neonatal diabetes. Her work with Professor Andrew Hattersley has helped enable children born with diabetes to switch from insulin injections to tablet therapy.

She is the author of the book Life at the Extremes: The Science of Survival.

Reviews

[Kazia]

I got a nice explanation about the basics of the ion channel. Additionally, this book elegantly describes the wide range of topics in ion channel protein.