Sandbox Reserved 695: Difference between revisions

Under normal circumstances, the voltage gated sodium channel, or (VGSC), these sodium receptors serve to propagate the action potential down the axon, responding to elevated intracellular potential by opening the channel, allowing the rapid influx of sodium ions, which elevates the potential further, propagating the action potential. In a seizure, the synchronized activity of action potentials leads to very high frequency action potentials, leading to muscular convulsions and other symptoms (McCormick et. al, 2001). However, anticonvulsant drugs suppress seizures by limiting the high frequency firing of action potentials. These drugs do not interfere heavily with normal neurological activity, because they have little effect in neurons with normal resting potentials (Rogawski and Löscher, 2004).

Structural determination of the <scene name='Sandbox_Reserved_695/Vgsc_original/1'>VGSC</scene> has revealed it to be composed of four homologous domains, each of which has six transmembrane regions, while the pore is composed of the S5 and S6 segments (Sato et al., 2001).  For a better illustration of the structure, see Figure 1.

==Structure==