Calcium-activated non-selective channels in the nervous system.

In the decade, since the first description of calcium-activated non-selective (CAN) channels in cardiac myocytes, pancreatic acini and neuroblastoma, this type of channel has been shown to have a ubiquitous distribution across a variety of tissues. Recently, their role in the function of cells of the nervous system has become better delineated. Because CAN channels pass depolarizing current, respond to cytoplasmic Ca2+ activity and do not inactivate, they are capable of producing maintained depolarization of neurons. This property endows upon CAN channels an important role in both physiological functions and pathological processes of the nervous system.