Stephen J. Tucker
@profkalium.bsky.social
Ion Channel Biophysics, K+ Channels, OXION PhD programme, University of Oxford, Dept Physics & Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery etc... But all views my own
Whoops! Most arXiv papers contain information never meant to be shared www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Whoops! Most arXiv papers contain information never meant to be shared
Passwords, GPS coordinates and private conversations have all been found in the metadata and source files of millions of preprint submissions.
nature.com
Why does the UK keep inventing these impenetrable and arcane processes for selecting a leader when "Bake Off" already exists.
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...
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...
link.springer.com
Welcome, piles of slop filling up the journals with clouds of useless wordy garbage. Case in point:
What the Literature is Filling Up With
science.org
"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...
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 ...
medrxiv.org
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...
🌟 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/...
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...
pubs.acs.org
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...
Neuronal transmission – Introduction to Biological Psychology
An open textbook for Biological Psychology undergraduate students.
openpress.sussex.ac.uk
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"
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.
Targeting cystic fibrosis where it counts
YouTube video by Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation
youtu.be
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.
Richard Sever@richardsever.bsky.social · 12mo agoVery honored to receive the Royal Society Research Culture Award - this represents the work of a great team who've worked non-stop since we launched bioRxiv in 2013 royalsociety.org/news/2025/08... www.cshl.edu/inglis-and-s...
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...
TRYPTYR (acoltremon ophthalmic solution) 0.003% eye drops | Alcon US
TRYPTYR is a prescription eye drop used for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. See prescribing information, how to save, and more.
tryptyr.myalcon.com
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...
Understanding University Finances
... a very short guide
open.substack.com
Our latest preprint on the mechanism of GqPCR regulation of TASK K2P channels. biorxiv.org/content/earl...
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.
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...
royalsociety.org
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...
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:
The Future of Scientific Publishing - survey
forms.royalsociety.org
Fascinating new study on origin of thermosensitivity in TREK K2P channels.... link.springer.com/article/10.1...
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...
link.springer.com
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
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/...
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...
pnas.org
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...
Someone on Threads noticed you can type any random sentence into Google, then add “meaning” afterwards, and you’ll get an AI explanation of a famous idiom or phrase you just made up. Here is mine
Friday night levity: Only my old professor Fred Menger could start an important paper this way and get away with it. He's always been a hoot, and a brilliant hoot to boot.
