title: Ion channel regulation by protein palmitoylation.
abstract: Protein S-palmitoylation, the reversible thioester linkage of a 16-carbon palmitate lipid to an intracellular cysteine residue, is rapidly emerging as a fundamental, dynamic, and widespread post-translational mechanism to control the properties and function of ligand- and voltage-gated ion channels. Palmitoylation controls multiple stages in the ion channel life cycle, from maturation to trafficking and regulation. An emerging concept is that palmitoylation is an important determinant of channel regulation by other signaling pathways. The elucidation of enzymes controlling palmitoylation and developments in proteomics tools now promise to revolutionize our understanding of this fundamental post-translational mechanism in regulating ion channel physiology.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Physiology, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XD, Scotland, United Kingdom. mike.shipston@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Shipston
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000502:physiology*; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D054878:Lipoylation / Q000502:physiology*; D046188:Protein Modification, Translational / Q000502:physiology*; D017293:Protein S / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels; D017293:Protein S