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Topic · Molecular Biology

Ion channel regulation and function

Ion channel regulation and function is a research topic within Molecular Biology. Science Explorer counts 82k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the molecular mechanisms, structure, regulation, and physiological roles of ion channels, with a focus on voltage-gated potassium and calcium channels. It covers topics such as channel structure, membrane proteins, neuronal function, and cell signaling.

  • Ion Channels
  • Voltage-Gated Channels
  • Calcium Channels
  • Potassium Channels
  • Channel Regulation
  • Membrane Proteins
  • Neuronal Function
  • Cell Signaling
  • Channel Structure
  • Physiological Roles
Research works
82k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
8.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-18%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
40% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Ion channel regulation and function

Which countries lead Ion channel regulation and function research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (1.6k and 766 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 1.6k works
  2. 2 China 766 works
  3. 3 Japan 302 works
  4. 4 Germany 273 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 233 works
  6. 6 Italy 203 works
  7. 7 India 191 works
  8. 8 Russia 177 works
  9. 9 France 167 works
  10. 10 Canada 141 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 39.7%China: 18.8%Japan: 7.4%Germany: 6.7%6 others listed: 27.3%40%largest
United States1,618 · 39.7%China766 · 18.8%Japan302 · 7.4%Germany273 · 6.7%6 others listed1,112 · 27.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Ion channel regulation and function research?

By volume in 2022-now, Russian Academy of Sciences publishes the most Ion channel regulation and function research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and University of California, Davis.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 92 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 50 works
  3. 3 University of California, DavisUnited States 50 works
  4. 4 National Institutes of HealthUnited States 38 works
  5. 5 InsermFrance 32 works
  6. 6 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 31 works
  7. 7 Harvard UniversityUnited States 29 works
  8. 8 Washington University in St. LouisUnited States 28 works
  9. 9 Columbia UniversityUnited States 27 works
  10. 10 Cornell UniversityUnited States 27 works

Who are the leading researchers in Ion channel regulation and function?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Ion channel regulation and function include George Davey Smith, Mark J. Daly and Guido Kroemer.

  1. 1 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  2. 2 Mark J. Daly United States 403k citations
  3. 3 Guido Kroemer France 386k citations
  4. 4 Shizuo Akira Japan 342k citations
  5. 5 Emelia J. Benjamin United States 341k citations
  6. 6 Jun Wang China 340k citations
  7. 7 Giuseppe Remuzzi Italy 328k citations
  8. 8 Róbert Langer United States 303k citations
  9. 9 Salim Yusuf Canada 294k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Ion channel regulation and function?

The most cited paper in Ion channel regulation and function is "Calcium's Role in Mechanotransduction during Muscle Development" (Tatiana Benavides Damm, Marcel Egli, 2014), with 14,545 citations. Next come "The capsaicin receptor: a heat-activated ion channel in the pain pathway" (9,220) and "International Union of Pharmacology: Approaches to the Nomenclature of Voltage-Gated Ion Channels" (7,147).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Calcium's Role in Mechanotransduction during Muscle Development Tatiana Benavides Damm, Marcel Egli · Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry Open access 2014 14,545
2 The capsaicin receptor: a heat-activated ion channel in the pain pathway Michael J. Caterina, Mark A. Schumacher, Makoto Tominaga et al. · Nature Oct 1997 9,220
3 International Union of Pharmacology: Approaches to the Nomenclature of Voltage-Gated Ion Channels William A. Catterall, K. George Chandy, David E. Clapham et al. · Pharmacological Reviews Dec 2003 7,147
4 The Structure of the Potassium Channel: Molecular Basis of K + Conduction and Selectivity Declan Anthony Doyle, João Henrique Morais-Cabral, Richard A. Pfuetzner et al. · Science 3 Apr 1998 6,890
5 Cardiac excitation–contraction coupling Donald M. Bers · Nature 2002 4,798
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Ion channel regulation and function research done?

The largest centres of Ion channel regulation and function research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), New York (United States), Tokyo (Japan) and Paris (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Davis and Nashville.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 116 works
  2. 2 New YorkUnited States 88 works
  3. 3 TokyoJapan 76 works
  4. 4 ParisFrance 75 works
  5. 5 MoscowRussia 74 works
  6. 6 LondonUnited Kingdom 66 works
  7. 7 ShanghaiChina 58 works
  8. 8 DavisUnited States 49 works
  9. 9 Saint PetersburgRussia 48 works
  10. 10 BaltimoreUnited States 48 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. DavisUS · 49.4 works12×
  2. NashvilleUS · 31.0 works6.1×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Ion channel regulation and function than the world average.

See Ion channel regulation and function on the map

Where is the best place to study Ion channel regulation and function?

Among universities, judged by research, Rockefeller University, Columbia University and University of California, Davis score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 17.93%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Rockefeller UniversityColumbia UniversityUniversity of Califo…University of Washin…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Rockefeller UniversityUnited States 66.327.6%33.3×10 +111.0%
2Columbia UniversityUnited States 61.520.5%5.2×27 -4.7%
3University of California, DavisUnited States 61.412.0%13.1×50 -13.8%
4University of WashingtonUnited States 58.910.9%4.2×23 +8.5%
5Harvard UniversityUnited States 58.119.3%1.9×29 -20.6%
6University of Maryland, BaltimoreUnited States 56.712.5%12.7×21 +36.5%
7Yale UniversityUnited States 53.627.3%3.2×17 -36.6%
8Peking UniversityChina 53.022.7%2.6×26 -14.2%
9Cornell UniversityUnited States 52.413.9%4.2×27 -5.0%
10Washington University in St. LouisUnited States 52.312.6%8.2×28 -23.6%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Ion channel regulation and function, country by country

Is Ion channel regulation and function research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 18% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 1998.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Ion channel regulation and function as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.021% in 2024.

still counting0.10%0.20%0.30%Ion channel regulation and function0.020% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Ion channel regulation and function over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Ion channel regulation and function10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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