Researchers in the neurosciences share their techniques, protocols, and thoughts/reviews on various approaches they use to study gap junction channels and hemichannels. Their topics include applying immunofluorescence to analyze connexin distribution and trafficking, the patch clamp analysis of gap junction channel properties, recording gap junction-mediated synaptic transmission in vivo at mixed synapses on the goldfish Mauthner cells, assessing connexin hemichannel function during ischemic injury and reperfusion, the functional characterization of connexin hemichannels using Xenopus oocytes and the two-electrode voltage clamp technique, and methods to examine the role of gap junction and pannexin channels in HIV infection. Annotation ©2016 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
Gap junction channels are a group of intercellular channels expressed in tissues and organs to synchronize many physiological processes. Pannexin channels are a family of closely related large-pore channels virtually unknown a decade ago. The field of connexin and pannexin research has recently exploded and became one of the most active areas of research. Numerous novel approaches and techniques have been developed, but there is no single book to dedicate on the unique techniques and protocols for the research on these large pore channels. The authors plan a book to focus on recent state-of-the-art techniques and protocols in various aspects of this diverse research field.
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| Preface |
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| Editors |
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| Contributors |
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Chapter 1 Immunofluorescence: Applications for Analysis of Connexin Distribution and Trafficking |
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1 | (20) |
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Chapter 2 Imaging Gap Junctions in Living Cells |
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21 | (42) |
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Chapter 3 FRAP for the Study of Gap Junction Nexus Macromolecular Organization |
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63 | (30) |
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Chapter 4 Patch Clamp Analysis of Gap Junction Channel Properties |
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93 | (22) |
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Chapter 5 What Do You Need to Measure Gap Junctional Permselectivity? |
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115 | (36) |
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Chapter 6 Recording Gap Junction-Mediated Synaptic Transmission in Vivo at Mixed Synapses on the Goldfish Mauthner Cells |
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151 | (18) |
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Chapter 7 Assessing Connexin Hemichannel Function during Ischemic Injury and Reperfusion |
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169 | (20) |
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Chapter 8 Whole-Cell Patch Clamp Recordings of Unitary Connexin |
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189 | (14) |
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Chapter 9 Functional Characterization of Connexin Hemichannels Using Xenopus Oocytes and the Two-Electrode Voltage Clamp Technique |
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203 | (12) |
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Juan Manuel Valdez Capuccino |
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Chapter 10 Functional Assays of Purified Connexin Hemichannels |
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215 | (24) |
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Chapter 11 Methods to Determine Formation of Heteromeric Hemichannels |
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239 | (14) |
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Chapter 12 Methods to Examine the Role of Gap Junction and Pannexin Channels in HIV Infection |
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253 | (22) |
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| Index |
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Donglin Bai received his Ph.D. from University of Cambridge, U.K. (1994). He then moved to Canada and worked on neurotransmitter receptors (GABA, NMDA, AMPA, noradrenaline, angiotensin) in Loeb Research Institute (Ottawa), Department of Physiology (Toronto) and Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute (Toronto) as a postdoctoral fellow. In 2002 he was recruited as an Assistant Professor at Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, the University of Western Ontario. He is currently a tenured Associate Professor in the same university. His current research interests are on the physiology of gap junction channels, including gap junction channel docking, single channel conductance and gating properties. He is also interested in revealing how gap junction gene mutants linking to human diseases (cardiac arrhythmias, hypomyelination, cataracts, deafness and skin diseases) and developing strategies of rescuing the mutants. He received grants support from the following Canadian funding agencies: CIHR, CRC, NSERC, HSFC and ERA.
Dr. Juan C. Sáez received his PhD in neuroscience from Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM), New York, New York, in 1986. He stayed for one year as an instructor in the Department of Neuroscience of AECOM, and then, he became an assistant professor in the same department. In 1993, he joined the Physiology Department of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile, where he has been a professor since 2003. His current research interest is understanding the regulation and the function of connexin- and pannexin-based channels in different cell types, including the cells of the nervous system, the immune system, and the gastrointestinal system and, more recently, on skeletal muscles. He has also characterized biophysical features of the mentioned channels. Recently, he has also used protocols for identifying highly selective inhibitors of connexin hemichannels without an effect on gap junction channels and with potent anti-inflammatory activity to treat chronic diseases. He has been continuously funded through the National Institutes of Health and different foundations of the Chilean government.
Lisainfo e-raamatute kohta