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Magnesium ions and ionic channels: activation, inhibition or block – a hypothesis Volume 20, issue 2, June 2007

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Authors
Laboratory of Physiology and Physiopathology, University P.M. Curie – Paris VI, Paris, France, SDRM, 64 rue de Longchamp, 92200 Neuilly, France

The interactions between magnesium ions and ionic membrane channels are complicated and may be classified in three categories: activation, reduction and inhibition of the ionic fluxes across the channels, corresponding to three mechanisms: open-block-close. The interactions between magnesium ions and various ionic channels are reviewed and the explanations of the three mechanisms are analyzed in term of screening/binding effects on the membrane surface polar head groups.