User:Ryburns83/SK CHANNELS

Wikipedia Proposal: SK Channels

Bethany Chaves, Matt White, and Ryan Burns

This is the proposal of our project on the SK channel. This page will serve as a proposed outline for our page.

The work will be split up by section and assigned to each respective group member at meetings. Each group member will develop a sturdy background understanding on the topic before tackling each of their assigned subtopics. In this way division of labor is equal, as is a foundational knowledge about the SK channel. The sections listed below, into which our topic page is to be divided, are subject to change as research develops, as the bulk of the information available may lie more towards one section than anticipated.

Introduction
SK channels are calcium-modulated potassium leak channels that regulate excitability throughout much of the central nervous system. Directly activated by the binding of calmodulin, these fast-acting channels promote both short-term and long-term changes in the central nervous system, as they are involved in modulation of synaptic transmission, as well as synaptic plasticity and memory formation. Activation of these post-synaptic transmembrane channels solely requires increases in the intracellular concentrations of calcium, so as to induce calmodulin-binding. SK channels are an important topic for research due to their involvement in neural plasticity.

Elaboration and expansion of this section will occur throughout the course of the project.

Structure
Information will be provided about the basic anatomical features of the channel (i.e. active sites, active and inactive states, etc.)

Classifications
A note on subtypes: if the amount of information on this topic proves substantial, it will be kept to its own section; if not, this section can always be absorbed into "Function"

Function
Greater detail will be included about the physiology of SK channels and their role in the CNS. That is, we will be covering both the "big picture" and "small picture" and the relation between the two.

Current and Future Research
If necessary, this section can be transformed into a section on plasticity.