[Ion channels--the molecular background of neural transmission]

Methodological developments in recent years, particularly patch clamp technology and the techniques of molecular biology, have advanced our knowledge of the molecular basis of synaptic transmission. The review is a brief summary of some findings concerning the ion channels that respond to hormones transmitters, or change in cell membrane potential, and of advances in our understanding of transmitter storage and release. Ion channels have been found to be targets for several drugs in clinical use, including anaesthetics, bensodiazopines, so-called calcium antagonists and the sulphonylureas used in the treatment of diabetes. The latter drugs have been shown to interact specifically with a potassium channel regulated by ATP (adenosine triphosphate). In pancreatic beta-cells, this channel controls membrane potential and insulin release under physiological conditions; in several other cells, it is activated under hypoxic or ischaemic conditions.