25 June 2010. Voltage-gated calcium channels swing open with
passing action potentials, allowing calcium ions into the cell,
and slide shut when the membrane depolarization has passed. Two
papers this month suggest that these channels—particularly the
long-activating L-type calcium channels (LTCCs)—are crucial to
both axon regeneration in the peripheral nervous system and
memory formation in the brain. In the online Current Biology,
researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in
Martinsried, Germany, report the solution to a long-standing
mystery in neuroscience. They found that electrical signals,
mediated by LTCCs, prevent axon outgrowth. And in the June 23
Journal of Neuroscience, scientists from the Technical
University Munich, Germany, describe the role of a specific LTCC
subtype, Cav1.2 channels, in fear-associated memory. Together
the papers highlight novel roles and versatility of these
membrane channels. Close Channels for Axon Growth The
Martinsried researchers, led by senior author Fr