The channelome, sometimes called the "ion channelome", is the complete set of

ion channel Ion channels are pore-forming membrane proteins that allow ions to pass through the channel pore. Their functions include establishing a resting membrane potential, shaping action potentials and other electrical signals by Gating (electrophysiol ...

sDoyle, D. A., Morais-Cabral, J., Pfuetzner, R. A., Kuo, A, Gulbis, JM, Cohen, SL, Chait, BT, MacKinnon, R (1998) The structure of the potassium channel: molecular basis of K⁺ conduction and selectivity. ''Science'' 280:69–77. and porins expressed in a biological tissue or organism. It is analogous to the

genome A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...

, the metabolome (describing metabolites), the

proteome A proteome is the entire set of proteins that is, or can be, expressed by a genome, cell, tissue, or organism at a certain time. It is the set of expressed proteins in a given type of cell or organism, at a given time, under defined conditions. P ...

(describing general

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

expression), and the

microbiome A microbiome () is the community of microorganisms that can usually be found living together in any given habitat. It was defined more precisely in 1988 by Whipps ''et al.'' as "a characteristic microbial community occupying a reasonably wel ...

. Characterization of the ion channelome, referred to as channelomics, is a branch of

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations ...

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

, and

pharmacology Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur betwee ...

, with particular attention paid to

gene expression Gene expression is the process (including its Regulation of gene expression, regulation) by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product that enables it to produce end products, proteins or non-coding RNA, ...

. It can be performed by a variety of techniques, including

patch clamp The patch clamp technique is a laboratory technique in electrophysiology used to study ionic currents in individual Cell isolation, isolated living cells, tissue sections, or patches of cell membrane. The technique is especially useful in the st ...

electrophysiology Electrophysiology (from ee the Electron#Etymology, etymology of "electron" ; and ) is the branch of physiology that studies the electrical properties of biological cell (biology), cells and tissues. It involves measurements of voltage change ...

, PCR, and

immunohistochemistry Immunohistochemistry is a form of immunostaining. It involves the process of selectively identifying antigens in cells and tissue, by exploiting the principle of Antibody, antibodies binding specifically to antigens in biological tissues. Alber ...

. Channelomics is being used to screen and discover new medicines.

Functional studies

Structure and function of membrane channels are closely linked, but perhaps the most famous work studying the structure of

ion channels Ion channels are pore-forming membrane proteins that allow ions to pass through the channel pore. Their functions include establishing a resting membrane potential, shaping action potentials and other electrical signals by gating the flow of ...

is the paper by Doyle ''et al''. 1998, which led to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for Roderick MacKinnon. Abnormalities of channel structure consequently result in their physiological mis-function. Channelomic studies include the systematic study of diseases resulting from such mis-functions. Such a disease is termed a channelopathy. In addition, channelomic studies screen potential drugs for their effectiveness at channelopathies, by examining the binding affinities of candidate drug compounds.

References

{{Ion channels Membrane biology Ion channels Channelopathies Electrophysiology Integral membrane proteins