NATURE [Vol 444]2 Nov 2006
L. Robinson

Housekeeper has two jobs
Neuron 52, 321–333 (2006)

A novel player in the business of helping  brain cells to communicate with each other has been discovered by Deborah Nelson at the University of Chicago, Illinois, and her colleagues. All nerve cells have channels in their membranes that allow ions to pass in and out of the cell. Ion transport through calcium and potassium channels, for example, triggers nerve cells to fire impulses. Chloride channels, on the other hand, were thought to have a ‘housekeeping’ function, preserving cell volume and maintaining electrical
charge. Nelson’s group found that a chloride channel known as ClC-3 amplifies cell-tocell communication in immature neurons by propagating action potentials. Later, as the
neuron matures, its role changes to one that dampens interneuronal signalling.

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