This is the first book to summarize experimental results from the new, rapidly expanding field of research into the calcium channel in cell membrane. Calcium is an ubiquitous messenger of various cellular functions. Its fundamental role in the regulation of cardiac contractions has long been recognized. Drugs counteracting some actions of calcium ions, namely calcium antagonists, have since become essential to research. In the last decade it has been established that calcium ions reach their target intracellular system by passing through specialized calcium channels in the membrane. Recently...

Understanding the molecular processes by which ionic channels are regulated is central to the understanding of cellular function. Great advances in understanding these regulatory mechanisms have been recently achieved by the combination of several powerful techniques. Development of the patch clamp technique, ability to access the intracellular channels sites, and genetic manipulation of channel structure have allowed studies of channel function in native membranes. Cloning, sequencing and determining the channel structure and its subunits allows further insight into the regulatory mechanisms...