This course is no longer offered

20524 Ion Channels

Credits: 3 advanced credits in Life Sciences

Prerequisites: 36 credits in the Sciences. Students must also fulfill all English requirements and take bibliographic instruction in the Library.

Required: General Biology I, General Biology II, Biochemistry I, Cell Structure and Function

Recommended: Nerve Cells: Introduction to Neurobiology, Genetics, The Vertebrates

The course is based on chapters from Ionic Channels of Excitable Membranes (2nd ed.), by B. Hille (Sinauer, 1992), and a reader edited by Simona Ginsburg.

Ion channels, macromolecules located in the cell membrane, are largely responsible for the organism’s ability to transmit intricate and essential information between cells. In the past decades biophysical and genetic engineering methods have been developed to study these macromolecules, revealing in detail the operating principles of ionic channels in excitable as well as other cells. The course focuses mainly on channel families frequently found in excitable membranes, their structure, mechanisms and plethora of functions.

After studying the material, students choose an expanded topic from a list, read articles surveying the field, write a seminar paper and present it orally and in writing.

Sample seminar paper topics: The basis for selectivity of ions in channels; The molecular structure of potassium channels; Channels in sensory cells; Channels that enable learning?