Tsutomu Tanabe

TL;DR: Structural and sequence similarities to the voltage-dependent sodium channel suggest that in the transverse tubule membrane of skeletal muscle the dihydropyridine receptor may act both as voltage sensor in excitation-contraction coupling and as a calcium channel.

TL;DR: Cloning and sequence analysis of cDNA for the Electrophorus electricus electroplax sodium channel indicate that this protein exhibits four repeated homology units, which are presumably oriented in a pseudosymmetric fashion across the membrane.

TL;DR: It is shown that messenger RNA derived from the cardiac DHP receptor cDNA is sufficient to direct the formation of a functional DHP-sensitive calcium channel in Xenopus oocytes, and higher calcium-channel activity is observed when mRNA specific for the polypeptide of relative molecular mass associated with the skeletal muscle DHP receptors is co-injected.

TL;DR: The primary structure of a voltage-dependent cal-cium channel from rabbit brain has been deduced by cloning and sequencing the complementary DNA and it is suggested that it is expressed predominantly in cerebellar Purkinje cells and granule cells.

TL;DR: Microinjection of an expression plasmid that carries complementary DNA encoding the receptor for dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers of skeletal muscle restores both excitation-contraction coupling and slow calcium current in cultured skeletal muscle cells from mice with muscular dysgenesis.