Revealing the activation pathway for TMEM16A chloride channels from macroscopic currents and kinetic models.

TMEM16A (ANO1), the pore-forming subunit of calcium-activated chloride channels, regulates several physiological and pathophysiological processes such as smooth muscle contraction, cardiac and neuronal excitability, salivary secretion, tumour growth and cancer progression. Gating of TMEM16A is complex because it involves the interplay between increases in intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)]i), membrane depolarization, extracellular Cl(-) or permeant anions and intracellular protons. Our goal here was to understand how these variables regulate TMEM16A gating and to explain four observations.

Interrater reliability of needle electromyographic findings in lumbar radiculopathy.

Objective: This study was performed to investigate the interrater reliability of needle electromyographic findings and electrodiagnostic impressions among expert electrodiagnosticians.

Design: Twenty-nine electromyographic recordings were chosen for this study from a larger prospective, observational cohort of 89 consecutive subjects, who were referred for electrodiagnostic evaluation of the lower limbs in a hospital-based spine clinic. The parent study was designed to evaluate the utility of electrodiagnostic findings in predicting outcomes after epidural steroid injections in lumbar radiculopathy.