Society of
General physiologists

Paul F. Cranefield Award

Polina Lishko for “The epithelial potassium channel Kir7.1 is stimulated by progesterone”
https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.202112924

Patch clamp electrophysiology studies of choroid plexus epithelial cells by Lishko and colleagues reveals a progesterone-activated potassium current, which the authors demonstrate is due to the Kir 7.1 channel, elucidating a molecular mechanism of sex steroid hormone regulation at the blood-brain barrier.

Cranefield Postdoctoral Fellow Award

Fayal Abderemane-Ali for “Evidence that toxin resistance in poison birds and frogs is not rooted in sodium channel mutations and may rely on “toxin sponge” proteins”
https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.202112872

Abderemane-Ali and colleagues show that the primary driver of poison-resistance in poisonous organisms might be sequestration by ‘toxin sponge’ proteins rather than mutations in the endogenous voltage-gated sodium channels, as previously believed.

Cranefield Student Award

Colline Sanchez for “Detection of Ca2+ transients near ryanodine receptors by targeting fluorescent Ca2+ sensors to the triad"
https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.202012592

Sanchez and colleagues develop a novel approach to directly detect sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release triggered by activation of the voltage dependent CaV1.1 channel and find that spatially distinct triadic regions exhibit remarkable uniformity in terms of onset and termination of Ca2+ release.  

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