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Topic · Sensory Systems

Ion Channels and Receptors

Ion Channels and Receptors is a research topic within Sensory Systems. Science Explorer counts 15k research works in it since 1959. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the role of calcium signaling and ion channels, particularly TRP channels, in sensory neurons and their involvement in thermosensation, nociception, and the pain pathway. It also explores the function of store-operated channels, Orai1, and STIM1 in calcium homeostasis and signaling. The papers cover a wide range of topics related to calcium signaling in sensory perception and disease.

  • Calcium Signaling
  • Ion Channels
  • TRP Channels
  • Sensory Neurons
  • Thermosensation
  • Nociception
  • Store-Operated Channels
  • Orai1
  • STIM1
  • Pain Pathway
Research works
15k
fractional, since 1959
In the world top 10%
1.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-9%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
33% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Ion Channels and Receptors

Which countries lead Ion Channels and Receptors research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (666 and 591 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 666 works
  2. 2 United States 591 works
  3. 3 Japan 178 works
  4. 4 India 134 works
  5. 5 Germany 123 works
  6. 6 South Korea 80 works
  7. 7 Italy 72 works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 70 works
  9. 9 France 63 works
  10. 10 Türkiye 56 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.

China: 32.7%United States: 29.1%Japan: 8.8%India: 6.6%6 others listed: 22.9%33%largest
China666 · 32.7%United States591 · 29.1%Japan178 · 8.8%India134 · 6.6%6 others listed465 · 22.9%

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

Which institutions lead Ion Channels and Receptors research?

By volume in 2022-now, Russian Academy of Sciences publishes the most Ion Channels and Receptors research, followed by National Institutes of Health and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 26 works
  2. 2 National Institutes of HealthUnited States 19 works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 17 works
  4. 4 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 17 works
  5. 5 University of California, DavisUnited States 15 works
  6. 6 Zhejiang UniversityChina 14 works
  7. 7 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 13 works
  8. 8 University of PittsburghUnited States 13 works
  9. 9 InsermFrance 13 works
  10. 10 Homi Bhabha National InstituteIndia 13 works

Who are the leading researchers in Ion Channels and Receptors?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Ion Channels and Receptors include George Davey Smith, Shizuo Akira and Jun Wang.

  1. 1 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  2. 2 Shizuo Akira Japan 342k citations
  3. 3 Jun Wang China 340k citations
  4. 4 Amirhossein Sahebkar Iran 258k 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 Channels and Receptors?

The most cited paper in Ion Channels and Receptors is "The capsaicin receptor: a heat-activated ion channel in the pain pathway" (Michael J. Caterina, Mark A. Schumacher, Makoto Tominaga et al., 1997), with 9,220 citations. Next come "Inositol trisphosphate and calcium signalling" (6,606) and "The versatility and universality of calcium signalling" (5,749).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 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
2 Inositol trisphosphate and calcium signalling Michael John Berridge · Nature 1993 6,606
3 The versatility and universality of calcium signalling Michael John Berridge, Peter Lipp, Martin D. Bootman · Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology Review Oct 2000 5,749
4 Calcium signalling: dynamics, homeostasis and remodelling Michael John Berridge, Martin D. Bootman, H. Llewelyn Roderick · Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology ReviewOpen access Jul 2003 5,649
5 Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Pain Allan I. Basbaum, Diana M. Bautista, Grégory Scherrer et al. · Cell Open access Oct 2009 4,393
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Ion Channels and Receptors research done?

The largest centres of Ion Channels and Receptors research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Guangzhou (China) and Tokyo (Japan).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 73 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 49 works
  3. 3 GuangzhouChina 42 works
  4. 4 TokyoJapan 38 works
  5. 5 SeoulSouth Korea 37 works
  6. 6 NanjingChina 36 works
  7. 7 WuhanChina 29 works
  8. 8 HangzhouChina 26 works
  9. 9 New YorkUnited States 24 works
  10. 10 ParisFrance 24 works
See Ion Channels and Receptors on the map

Where is the best place to study Ion Channels and Receptors?

Among universities, judged by research, Yale University, University of California, Davis and Columbia University 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%20%40%mean 13.12%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Columbia UniversityYale UniversityUniversity of Califo…Semmelweis University
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
1Yale UniversityUnited States 68.319.2%4.5×11 +67.1%
2University of California, DavisUnited States 66.812.8%8.0×15 +25.4%
3Columbia UniversityUnited States 65.028.7%3.5×9 +36.1%
4Semmelweis UniversityHungary 54.89.8%27.0×12 +122.1%
5Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 53.510.5%3.6×13 -16.4%
6Harvard UniversityUnited States 51.717.4%1.4×11 -28.6%
7University of PittsburghUnited States 50.94.7%7.0×13 +49.7%
8Zhejiang UniversityChina 48.215.0%2.2×14 -27.6%
9Seoul National UniversitySouth Korea 47.05.5%4.6×12 +23.1%
10KU LeuvenBelgium 46.07.6%4.8×11 -60.7%

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 Channels and Receptors, country by country

Is Ion Channels and Receptors research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 9% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2020.

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 Channels and Receptors as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0092% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%Ion Channels and Receptors0.0099% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Ion Channels and Receptors 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 Channels and Receptors10.3% 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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