Research on ion channels has exploded in the last few decades and it is now
clear that ion channels play essential roles in cell biology and physiology, with
their dysfunction being the root cause of many human diseases. Understanding
human biology in the post-genome sequencing era requires that the function of
the protein products encoded by these recently sequenced genes be quantified.
Using contemporary tools and new experimental approaches, scientists interested
in ion channels are in the unique position of being able to directly, and
often in real-time, measure ion channel activity, subunit stoichiometry, structure–function
relationships, as well as many other biophysical/biochemical
parameters regarding a channel of interest. Development and application of
these experimental tools has led to a boom in investigation of ion channels;
however, as in many fields of research, wide implementation of the newest
technological advances lags well behind the discovery of these advances. We
believe that recently developed technologies useful for studying ion channels
have matured enough to where they should now be readily available to any
interested scientist. Ion Channels provides a comprehensive and detailed
description of recent technological breakthroughs and experimental designs
used to successfully study ion channels