calcium channels

(American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) Calcium may not come to mind when you think of tasty foods, but in a study appearing in the Jan. 8 issue of JBC, Japanese researchers have provided the first demonstration that calcium channels on the tongue are the targets of compounds that can enhance taste.

(Georgetown University Medical Center) Epileptic seizures are the most dramatic and prominent aspect of the "alcohol withdrawal syndrome" that occurs when a person abruptly stops a long-term or chronic drinking habit.

Researchers have shown that the flow of calcium ions into brain cells via voltage-gated calcium channels plays an important role in the generation of alcohol withdrawal seizures, because blocking this flow suppresses these seizures.

But do the changes in calcium currents contribute to alcohol withdrawal seizures or are they a consequence of the seizures?