Structural and functional analysis of a recently discovered non-canonical potassium channel family reveals a unique selectivity filter that is exposed to permeating ions only in the conductive state.
The TRPV1, TRPV2 and TRPV3 channels are gated on the cytosolic side of the pore, whereas structural changes in the ion selectivity filter associated with activation don't control cation access.
Emx2 mediates the directional selectivity of neuromasts by regulating hair bundle orientation in hair cells, and by selecting afferent neuronal targets.
Experimental and computational models reveal how parallel 'core' mechanisms shape direction selectivity at the dendrites of starburst amacrine cells and ganglion cells in the mouse retina.
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.
The structure of a pannexin 1 uncovers the extracellular loops of pannexin 1 as important structural motifs for ion selectivity and channel inhibition.