Birgit Hirschberg

TL;DR: Members of a previously unidentified family of potassium channel subunits were cloned from rat and human brain and formed into calcium-activated, voltage-independent potassium channels, which contribute to the afterhyperpolarization in central neurons and other cell types.

TL;DR: The mechanism of calcium gating is studied and it is found that small-conductance calcium-activated potassium channels are not gated by calcium binding directly to the channel α-subunits, instead, the functional SK channels are heteromeric complexes with calmodulin, which is constitutively associated with the α- subunits in a calcium-independent manner.

TL;DR: Biophysical and pharmacological properties of hIK1, cloned from human pancreas, are consistent with native intermediate conductance calcium-activated potassium channels, including the erythrocyte Gardos channel.

TL;DR: Small-conductance Ca-activated K+ channel gating was modeled by a gating scheme consisting of four closed and two open states and predicted a macroscopic activation time course similar to that observed upon fast application of Ca2+ to excised inside-out patches.

TL;DR: Genetics and sequencing identified a proline to serine mutation (P299S) in the gene coding for the glutamate-gated chloride channel subunit DmGluClalpha, providing direct evidence that nodulisporic acid and ivermectin act on DmgluCl alpha channels.