The amino terminus of acid-sensing ion channel 1a forms a reentrant 'loop' that frames the lower pore and harbors a conserved 'His-Gly' motif implicated in gating and ion selectivity mechanisms.

Mambalgin1 binds to the thumb domain of human ASIC1a channel and inhibits the channel through hindering the proton-induced transitions from the resting closed state to the active and/or desensitized state.

Independently gating ion channels typically act fast within milliseconds, but cooperative interactions within a cluster of channels allow for a memory of previous electrical activity for several seconds.

Structures of OSCA1.2, a member of a newly characterized family of mechanically activated ion channels, provide insights into mechanism of channel gating by membrane tension.

SARS coronaviruses encode several mysterious proteins such as Orf3a and, in contrast to what has been claimed, Orf3a is not an ion channel but rather disrupts cellular trafficking by binding to the protein sorting complex known as HOPS.

Computational models of gating processes in an ion channel show how stability shifts upon ligand-binding and mutations are reproduced, which highlights mechanistic details and proposes a new role for symmetry in gating.

A mechanosensitive ion channel physically and genetically interacts with proteins that function at endoplasmic reticulum–plasma membrane contact sites.

Development of nanobodies against a model pentameric ligand-gated ion channel demonstrates they can be functionally active as negative or positive allosteric modulators and offers opportunities for future drug development.

The tarantula toxins psalmotoxin and guangxitoxin have a similar concave surface for interacting with α-helices in voltage-gated and acid-sensing ion channels.

Single-particle cryo-EM and electrophysiology studies of the chloride channel TMEM16A reveals the structural basis for anion conduction and uncover its relationship to lipid scramblases of the same family.