Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 11, 2025

Making, Testing, and Using Potassium Ion Selective Microelectrodes in Tissue Slices of Adult Brain
Published on: May 7, 2018
Migraine is a dysfunction of neuronal potassium ion channels
Girishwaran M1, S Sajitha Lulu1
1Integrative Multiomics Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, School of Bio Sciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India.
None:
Migraine is a primary headache disorder characterized by unilateral pain usually with aura, that affects approximately one in six individuals in India. The underlying biomechanical processes of migraine are still poorly understood, and new research is constantly being published. One of the major factors in migraine pathogenesis is the dysfunction of ion channels in the trigeminal nuclei and sensory cortices. Potassium channels are modulators and regulators of neuronal signaling and conductance, playing an important role in maintenance of the membrane potential and neuronal conduction. Therefore, potassium channel dysfunctions are potential factors in migraine pathogenesis, and thus targets for specific antimigraine prophylaxis. This review reveals that potassium channels play a significant role in pathogenesis and management of migraine. Dysfunctions in KATP channels, K2P channels including TRESK and TREK-1, small and large conductance calcium-sensitive potassium channels (SKCa and BKCa), and voltage-gated potassium channels (KV) are known to affect the incidence and progression of migraine in the general populace. KATP openers can induce migraine like phenotype, but KATP blockers have so far not been effective in reducing the intensity of migraine headache. Potassium channels are a potential druggable target for migraine prophylaxis with several compounds currently in preclinical trials.
Related Concept Videos
Ion Channels
Ion channels are specialized integral membrane proteins on the plasma membrane that allow...
Voltage-gated Ion Channels
Generally, all voltage-gated ion channels have a 'voltage-sensing domain' that spans the lipid bilayer. The charged residues in the sensor move in response to the membrane potential changes that open the channel allowing ions movement. There are several...
The Role of Ion Channels in Neuronal Computation
Sometimes a single EPSP is strong enough to induce an action potential in the postsynaptic neuron. However, multiple presynaptic inputs must often create EPSPs around the same time for the postsynaptic neuron to be sufficiently depolarized to fire an action potential....
Non-gated Ion Channels
Compared to the gated ion channels, the non-gated channels, also known as leakage or passive channels, have no gating mechanism....
Ligand-Gated Ion Channel Receptor: Gating Mechanism
Resting Potential Decay
At rest, the K+ is the main ion that moves across the membrane...

