Graduate student Xiang Wang and Postdoctoral student Xiaoli Zhang in the Xu lab have discovered two new ion channels in the lysosome. Their paper is published in the October issue of the journal Cell.

Canonical sodium-selective ion channels are most well known for their essential roles in generating the electric signals, i.e. action potentials of nerve and muscle cells. Students at the Xu lab have now discovered two new sodium channels in the lysosome, the cell's recycling center. These novel, lysosomal sodium channels are only half in size of the canonical sodium channels. The lysosome was thought be high in potassium, as in the cytosol.
Xiang Wang

 

Surprisingly, the new research at the Xu lab found that the lysosome is loaded with sodium ions. These new findings have revealed a new dimension in the regulation of endosomes and lysosomes.

Read the publication "TPC Proteins Are Phosphoinositide-Activated Sodium Selective Ion Channels in Endosomes and Lysosomes."

Visit the Xu Lab Website.

Xiaoli Zhang