The p-type calcium channel is a type of voltage-dependent calcium channel. Like the others of this class, the α1 subunit is the one that determines most of the channel's properties.
P-type ('P' for cerebellar Purkinje cells) calcium channels play a similar role to the N-type calcium channel in neurotransmitter release at the presynaptic terminal, and in neuronal integration in many neuronal types.
They are also found in Purkinje fibers in the electrical conduction system of the heart. Their properties are less well understood.
P channels were discovered in cerebellar Purkinje cells by Llinas and Sugimori and named P channels by Llinas et al.
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“Wherever there is a channel for water, there is a road for the canoe.”
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