A number of techniques to study ion channels have been developed since the electrical basis of excitability was first discovered. Ion channel biophysicists have at their disposal a rich and ever-growing array of instruments and reagents to explore the biophysical and structural basis of sodium channel behavior. Armed with these tools, researchers have made increasingly dramatic discoveries about sodium channels, culminating most recently in crystal structures of voltage-gated sodium channels from bacteria. These structures, along with those from other channels, give unprecedented insight into the structural basis of sodium channel function. This volume of the Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology will explore sodium channels from the perspectives of their biophysical behavior, their structure, the drugs and toxins with which they are known to interact, acquired and inherited diseases that affect sodium channels and the techniques with which their biophysical and structural properties are studied.

Overview: biophysical properties and structure of sodium channels

The voltage sensor module in sodium channels
Slow inactivation of Na + channels
Regulation/modulation of sensory neuron sodium channels
Ubiquitylation of voltage-gated sodium channels
Probing gating mechanisms of sodium channel using pore blockers
Animal toxins influence voltage-gated sodium channel function
Voltage-sensor trapping toxins: Iso form-specific ligands for sodium channels
Pharmacological insights and quirks of bacterial sodium channels
The role of non-pore-forming beta subunits in physiology and pathophysiology of voltage-gated sodium channels
The role of late INa in development of cardiac arrhythmias
Proton modulation of cardiac INa: A potential arrhythmogenic trigger
Altered sodium channel gating as molecular basis for pain: Contribution of activation, inactivation and resurgent currents.