title: Modulation of potassium ion channel proteins utilising antibodies.
abstract: The application of antibodies to living cells has the potential to modulate the function of specific proteins by virtue of their high specificity. This specificity has proven effective in determining the involvement of many proteins in neuronal function where specific agonists and antagonists do not exist, e.g. ion channel subunits. We discuss a way to utilise subunit specific antibodies to target individual channel subunits in electrophysiological experiments to determine functional roles within native neurones. Utilising this approach, we have investigated the role of the voltage-gated potassium channel Kv3.1b subunit within a region of the brainstem important in the regulation of autonomic function. We provide some useful control experiments in order to help validate this method. We conclude that antibodies can be extremely valuable in determining the functions of specific proteins in living neurones in neuroscience research.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: Mark L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Dallas
authors.forename: Susan A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Deuchars
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deuchars
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D021122:Protein Subunits / Q000276:immunology; D051381:Rats; D051670:Shaw Potassium Channels / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; C098254:Kcnc1 protein, rat; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D021122:Protein Subunits; D051670:Shaw Potassium Channels