Stephen J. Tucker

PyLipID was a really useful tool for helping to analyse the channel:lipid interactions!

Structural determinants for GPCR-mediated inhibition of TASK K2P channels by diacylglycerol and its dysfunction in disease - The EMBO Journal Two-Pore Domain K+ (K2P) channels are crucial determinants of the resting membrane potential and of cellular electrical excitability in many different cell types. TASK-1 and TASK-3 K2P channel activit...

Our latest work on the structural determinants for GPCR-mediated inhibition of TASK K2P channels by diacylglycerol is now finally published open access @embojournal.org

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Molecular architecture of human dermal sleeping nociceptors Integration of electrophysiology with single-cell transcriptomics defines the molecular signature of human dermal sleeping nociceptors and reveals oncostatin M as a selective modulator of these neuron...

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...?

What the Literature is Filling Up With

Welcome, piles of slop filling up the journals with clouds of useless wordy garbage. Case in point:

AI-generated data contamination erodes pathological variability and diagnostic reliability Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly populating medical records with synthetic content, creating a feedback loop where future models are increasingly at risk of training on uncurated AI ...

"AI is rapidly populating medical records with synthetic content, creating a feedback loop [that] drives a rapid erosion of pathological variability and diagnostic reliability...this renders AI generated documentation clinically useless after just two generations" www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

A critical residue mediates proper assembly and gating of GIRK2 channels. New study from Ha Nguyen, Paul A. Slesinger and colleagues @sinaibrain.bsky.social: rupress.org/jgp/article/...

#Biochemistry #MolecularPharmacology #ProteinStructure #ProteinDynamics #Biophysics #IonChannels

“ok so this is embarrassing but just for the record and just so we have it, your C.V says "Nature Scientific Reports"? sorry to have to even ask”

Light-induced analgesia via UV-activation of TRAAK K2P K+ channels. A great new paper from Guillaume Sandoz and colleagues that I was fortunate enough to be able to contribute to.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

MemPrO: A Predictive Tool for Membrane Protein Orientation Membrane proteins play a vital role in numerous cellular processes, including ion transport, intercellular communication, and antibiotic resistance. Ensuring their accurate orientation within lipid bi...

🌟 New Tool Alert!

We present MemPrO – a toolkit for orienting and building membrane protein systems:

✅ Membrane protein orientation 
✅ Mixed membrane building 
✅ Double membranes & curvature 
✅ Peptidoglycan cell wall support

🔗 github.com/pstansfeld/mempro 
📖 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Neuronal transmission – Introduction to Biological Psychology An open textbook for Biological Psychology undergraduate students.

A beautiful website/open textbook with superb cartoon illustrations of neurons, synapses, NMDA receptors, you name it!

A world away from the mountains of garbage on ResearchGate. These superb illustrations by @eliza-coli.bsky.social should be better known!

openpress.sussex.ac.uk/introduction...

To all trainees interested in channels and transporters: the joint FEBS/EMBO course will go ahead in Erice, Italy from May 13-19 2026:
network.febs.org/posts/new-jo...
Further details to come soon.

Please share and repost.

"We thank the reviewers for their helpful suggestions"

That’s because you are further North!

YouTube video by Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation Targeting cystic fibrosis where it counts

Translational ion channel research at its best. The 2025 Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award goes to Michael Welsh, Tito González, and Paul Negulescu for their role in developing a novel drug treatment for cystic fibrosis.

Cocaine chemogenetics blunts drug-seeking by synthetic physiology - Nature Cocaine chemogenetics in rats is a selective approach for countering drug reinforcement by clamping dopamine release in the presence of cocaine.

Cocaine-activated ion channels... www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Fantastic to see @richardsever.bsky.social and John Inglis honoured with this award for their contribution to @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social and the way preprints have transfomed scientific communication in the biosciences.

SLC45A4 is a pain gene encoding a neuronal polyamine transporter - Nature The SLC45A4 gene encodes a neuronal polyamine transporter and is linked to pain response in humans and mice.

Great new work from the Newstead & Bennett labs @ox.ac.uk

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Over 20 years after Julius’s lab and mine cloned TRPM8, it is rewarding to see this science helping patients. The TRPM8 agonist Tryptyr treats dry eye by increasing tear production. A reminder that NIH-funded curiosity-driven research translates to medicines.
tryptyr.myalcon.com?gad_source=1...

Understanding University Finances ... a very short guide

Very few people seem to understand university finances and, distressingly, this includes many academics and most policymakers. This is an attempt to condense the key points you need to know. open.substack.com/pub/profseri...

Our latest preprint on the mechanism of GqPCR regulation of TASK K2P channels. biorxiv.org/content/earl...

Faraday Discovery Fellowships Accelerated International Route | Royal Society The Faraday Discovery Fellowships Accelerated International Route provides a fast-track option for attracting mid-career researchers looking to relocate to the UK from overseas, providing up to £4m ov...

Open to applicants currently based overseas, the Accelerated International Route provides up to £4 million over a five-year period to outstanding mid-career STEM researchers looking to relocate to the UK.

New work from our lab. Structures of K2P6.1 (TWIK2) that yield a new and suprising perspective on how lipids affect K2P channels. Great work from Abishek Mondal and Sangeeta Niranjan in my lab.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The Future of Scientific Publishing - survey

We are reviewing the current state of scientific publishing, and we want to hear from researchers on their perceptions of publishing in the current context and how it might develop in future. Complete our short survey now:

Electrophysiology at atomic resolution: scientists simulate ion channel currents with unprecedented accuracy

www.qmul.ac.uk/media/news/2...

Thermosensitivity of TREK K2P channels is controlled by a PKA switch and depends on the microtubular network - Pflügers Archiv - European Journal of Physiology Temperature sensing is an essential component of animal perception and enables individuals to avoid painful or lethal temperatures. Many temperature sensors in central and peripheral neurons are ion c...

Fascinating new study on origin of thermosensitivity in TREK K2P channels....

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

I keep nibbling away when I have time - do you have a mechanism for recruitment of new affiliates? I'm sure more people would be willing to help if they knew how.

Great news - well done!

Heard from a former (undergrad) student who just defended her PhD. Students: tell your old profs about your successes and achievements. It's not bragging, and we love to hear about it. It's one of the best parts of being an educator.
#academicsky

The pentameric chloride channel BEST1 is activated by extracellular GABA | PNAS Bestrophin-1 (BEST1) is a chloride channel expressed in the eye and other tissues of the body. A link between BEST1 and the principal inhibitory ne...

Fascinating new work and CryoEM structures from Stephen Long's group showing the BEST Cl- channel is regulated by extracellular GABA | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Great work from colleagues @ndcnoxford.bsky.social describing structures of the human adult muscle-type nicotinic
receptor in resting and desensitized states.

www.cell.com/cell-reports...