Alpha Lifetech Inc. focuses on recombinant proteins' expression in different Biosystems for many years, including prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms, as well as the development of novel high-potency recombinant proteins.
Membrane Protein Production - Ion Channel Protein Service
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Ion channels are usually multimeric proteins located in the plasma membrane of excited cells, such as neurons, muscle cells, and touch receptor cells. Each ion channel arranges itself so that it forms a passageway or pore extending from one side of the membrane to the other and can open and close in response to chemical or mechanical signals. As transmembrane receptors, ion channel proteins often consist of bipolar characteristics, which makes them hard to express in vivo or vitro. Individual ion channels are specific to particular ions and based on that, the ion channels have been classified into several types, shown as follows:
Na+ Ion Channels:
The family of Na+ ion channels has nine known members named Nav1.1 – 1.9 which have been found mainly in neuro cells, except that Nav1.5 and 1.4 have been found in cardiac myocytes or skeletal muscle separately. Voltage-gated sodium channels are comprised of one pore-forming α subunit which may be associated with either one or two β subunits.
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Figure 1 Voltage gated sodium ion channel |
Potassium Channels:
Potassium channels are the most widely distributed type of ion channel and are present in almost every cell type. Potassium channels can be divided into 4 main classes: voltage-gated (Kv), inwardly rectifying (Kir), tandem-pore domain (K2P) and calcium-activated (KCa).
| Figure 2 Crystallographic structure of the bacterial KcsA potassium channel |
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TRP Ion Channels:
Transient receptor potential channels (TRP channels) are a group of more than 30 ion channels and can be sub-divided into 6 families: TRPC (canonical), TRPA (ankyrin), TRPV (vanilloid), TRPM (melastatin), TRPP (polycystic) and TRPML (mucolipin).
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Figure 3 2-D Structure of transient receptor potential channels: 6-time transmembrane domains |
Calcium Ion Channels:
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Voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCC) consist of various types, named L-type, N-type, P/Q-type, R-type and T-type channels, based on the α1 subtype. Figure 4 Model of Ca2+ Channel: |
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P2X Ion Channels:
P2X receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that open in response to the binding of extracellular ATP. There are 7 known P2X subunits, named P2X1-7, each of which is capable of forming functional homomeric or heteromeric receptors.
Related Protein Expression Services:
To produce functional and native ion channel proteins, Alpha Lifetech Inc. has created a powerful Cell/Cell-free Expression platform based on different organisms including bacteria, plant and mammal cells. We can express recombinant proteins, especially membrane proteins, in a form of precipitation without detergents or a solubilized form in 24 detergents in cell-free systems, according to different applications and requirements of each project to meet the need of our clients.
| Membrane Protein Expression Service |
Besides, Alpha Lifetech Inc. developed a platform for the production of stable cell lines:
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