Translational ion channel research at its best. The 2025 Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award goes to Michael Welsh, Tito González, and Paul Negulescu for their role in developing a novel drug treatment for cystic fibrosis.

Cocaine-activated ion channels... www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Fantastic to see @richardsever.bsky.social and John Inglis honoured with this award for their contribution to @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social and the way preprints have transfomed scientific communication in the biosciences.

Great new work from the Newstead & Bennett labs @ox.ac.uk www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Over 20 years after Julius’s lab and mine cloned TRPM8, it is rewarding to see this science helping patients. The TRPM8 agonist Tryptyr treats dry eye by increasing tear production. A reminder that NIH-funded curiosity-driven research translates to medicines. tryptyr.myalcon.com?gad_source=1...

Very few people seem to understand university finances and, distressingly, this includes many academics and most policymakers. This is an attempt to condense the key points you need to know. open.substack.com/pub/profseri...

Our latest preprint on the mechanism of GqPCR regulation of TASK K2P channels. biorxiv.org/content/earl...

Open to applicants currently based overseas, the Accelerated International Route provides up to £4 million over a five-year period to outstanding mid-career STEM researchers looking to relocate to the UK.

New work from our lab. Structures of K2P6.1 (TWIK2) that yield a new and suprising perspective on how lipids affect K2P channels. Great work from Abishek Mondal and Sangeeta Niranjan in my lab. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We are reviewing the current state of scientific publishing, and we want to hear from researchers on their perceptions of publishing in the current context and how it might develop in future. Complete our short survey now:

Fascinating new study on origin of thermosensitivity in TREK K2P channels.... link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Heard from a former (undergrad) student who just defended her PhD. Students: tell your old profs about your successes and achievements. It's not bragging, and we love to hear about it. It's one of the best parts of being an educator. #academicsky

Fascinating new work and CryoEM structures from Stephen Long's group showing the BEST Cl- channel is regulated by extracellular GABA | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Great work from colleagues @ndcnoxford.bsky.social describing structures of the human adult muscle-type nicotinic receptor in resting and desensitized states. www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Someone on Threads noticed you can type any random sentence into Google, then add “meaning” afterwards, and you’ll get an AI explanation of a famous idiom or phrase you just made up. Here is mine

Friday night levity: Only my old professor Fred Menger could start an important paper this way and get away with it. He's always been a hoot, and a brilliant hoot to boot.

At some point we need to have a discussion about the ethics of participation in press releases as scientists. From today’s K2-18b saga, Nikku Madhusudhan in the press release says ‘The signal came through loud and clear’ (1/n)

Two days of Ion Channels on the beautiful Hinxton Hall Genome Campus talking about the work from my team @kavlioxford.bsky.social #IonChannels25

New preprint! @tatilab.bsky.social imaged the honeybee GABAA RDL receptor. ~10% of insecticides target insect GABAA receptors. She found a new allosteric modulation pocket, a PIP2 site, a closed avermectin-bound conformation, and maybe an unusual desensitized state. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Here's our newest study: we reveal the molecular principles of neuronal excitation by glutamate, and how physiological temperatures influence this process. www.nature.com/articles/s41... www.nature.com/articles/d41... Led by @anish-mondal07.bsky.social, published in @natureportfolio.nature.com

Amazing new study on Kv channels and how sleep protects neuronal membranes against oxidative damage www.nature.com/articles/s41...

(1 of 2) If you’re a researcher focused on basic science, chances are that you’ve received #SciComm advice to make your work relevant by discussing its possible applications. But what if your day-to-day work doesn't focus on areas with direct applications?  publuu.com/flip-book/68...

"exciting to see this key piece of infrastructure really get the attention that it deserves" @katiecorker.bsky.social on the new non-profit that will run bioRxiv and medRxiv www.nature.com/articles/d41...

openRxiv - the new home for bioRxiv and medRxiv

Fascinating study from @physiologyiscool.bsky.social showing that Kir7.1 is the physiological target for hormones and steroids that regulate uteroplacental function | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Why academia is sleepwalking into self-destruction. My editorial @brain1878.bsky.social If you agree with the sentiments please repost. It's important for all our sakes to stop the madness academic.oup.com/brain/articl...

A pretty view from my recent drive down the Oregon coast.

A great phrase... "A growing thicket of THIK structures" 😂

Our latest work on the structure/function of the THIK-1 K2P channel is now out! Lots of interesting features in this important drug target. Another study on THIK-1 from @electrosomeucsf.bsky.social also appears in NSMB. rdcu.be/ebmow Congrats to Karin, my team and all my fantastic collaborators

More K2P channel structures - this time TWIK2 with an interesting twist in the filter.... Congrats to @vikasnavaratna.bsky.social and team....

Look at this crazy thing

Our 160th Chancellor www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-02...

Pharmacological profiling of small molecule modulators of the TMEM16A #ionchannel and their implications for the control of artery and capillary function https://buff.ly/40T2ZjB

The Grant Cycle **My new book comes out next week, pre-order now: bit.ly/OOYM

Amazing work from Ryan Hibbs’ lab www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Excellent PhD Opportunities at the University of Oxford.

A fascinating paper elucidating ion conduction in a potassium channel experimentally www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Commentary from @willppk.bsky.social on a new study by @elainetao.bsky.social and @corrylab.bsky.social (https://buff.ly/4gXybTY) that uses an enhanced sampling method, metadynamics, to identify and classify Naᵥ channel blockers. https://buff.ly/4fJq8ck #IonChannels

Congrats @willowcoyote.bsky.social @amanglik.bsky.social and all authors on a tour de force dissection of proton-sensing by GPCRs! DMS, cryo-EM, MD -- it has it all! www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Latest work from my excellent PhD student (now Dr) Linda Phan. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Here is a really nice paper about insect #iGluRs. The kainate-like receptors in insect muscle were studied a lot, but not so much in heterologous expression because they absolutely need Neto, and without, they don't express in a cell line. physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... 1/n

Congrats to my student Peter Rory whose latest work has now been published....

MD simulations of K+ ions permeation through the MthK potassium channel, done at +150 mV. We developed and applied optimized ion parameters within the Electronic Continuum Correction (ECC) framework. The simulated current quantitatively matches the experimental one. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...