Abstract
The Textbook of Ion Channels, edited by Jie Zheng and Matthew C. Trudeau, was first published in 2023 by CRC Press. This substantial work spans three volumes, comprising 58 chapters and just over a thousand pages. The volumes are organized as follows: Volume I, Basic Principles and Methods (17 chapters); Volume II, Properties, Function, and Pharmacology of the Superfamilies (29 chapters); and Volume III, Regulation, Physiology, and Diseases (12 chapters). The stated aim of the textbook is to provide a comprehensive reference source on ion channels for students, instructors, and researchers.
All 58 chapters are authored by leading experts in their respective fields, and the textbook benefits greatly from the contributions of a strong Editorial Advisory Board and specialist topic advisors, who ensure rigor and consistency throughout. Despite the overall length of the work, each chapter is necessarily concise, typically limited to around 18–20 pages. This constraint has clearly required difficult editorial decisions, but the result is a set of clear, focused, and highly readable chapters that are a pleasure, rather than a chore, to engage with.
The referencing approach is particularly effective. Each chapter includes a curated list of approximately 30 key suggested readings, while additional references are made available online for more in-depth exploration. Unfortunately, the provided link did not function as intended when tested, instead redirecting to a generic table of contents page.
Volume I is divided into two parts, addressing fundamental concepts of ion permeation and gating, and experimental techniques. Volume II provides detailed accounts of the functions and regulation of most known ion channels and stands as perhaps the most comprehensive collection currently available. Volume III is, by design, broader in scope and consequently less exhaustive, offering selected examples of ion channel regulation and their roles in disease.
Reviewing this work 3 years after publication offers a useful opportunity to assess how well it has aged. In this respect, Volumes I and II remain highly robust. The fundamental properties of ion channels are well established, and Volume I provides a clear and enduring account of these principles. The opening chapter by Simon and colleagues sets the tone effectively, combining a concise historical overview with reference to the seminal work of Hille, rightly identified as essential reading. 1 It then incorporates more recent structural and functional advances, supported by exceptionally clear illustrations that elucidalte the structural basis of ion selectivity in sodium and potassium channels.
While all chapters in Volume I are of high quality, the chapter on patch-clamping and single-channel analysis by Islas deserves special mention. Its clarity of explanation, combined with excellent illustrative examples, makes complex concepts accessible. In particular, the discussion of the threshold-crossing method for detecting channel opening and closing events is both informative and practical. The chapter also appropriately acknowledges more specialized approaches, such as direct fitting of time courses, which offers higher temporal resolution but requires greater manual intervention—an approach that, in its early days, could prove notoriously demanding, to which I can testify from direct experience.
Volume II is, without doubt, a tour de force. It is difficult to identify another single, accessible source that so comprehensively covers the functional and pharmacological properties of the full spectrum of ion channel proteins. The combination of expert authorship, consistently high-quality illustrations, and strong editorial oversight makes this volume an indispensable starting point for researchers studying specific ion channel families. Readers are well advised to begin with Chapter 1 by Jegla and Simonsen on the taxonomy and evolution of ion channels; Table 1.1, in particular, provides an essential framework for the rest of the volume. Notably, the classification of iGluR, nAChR, and P2XR into distinct superfamilies marks a shift from earlier conceptualizations of ligand-gated ion channels.
Having some familiarity with sodium and potassium channels, I found the corresponding chapters to be concise, well-written, and highly informative. By contrast, my knowledge of proton channels is more limited, and the chapter by Liman and Ramsey on OTOP and Hv1 channels offered a clear and practically useful introduction to this area.
Volume III, focusing on regulation, physiology, and disease, is the most open-ended, and perhaps surprisingly, the shortest, of the three. Its chapters face a more challenging brief, as each topic necessarily encompasses multiple ion channel types and interacting proteins. These are also areas of rapid development, where competing hypotheses and evolving evidence are common. This raises a natural question: How well do these chapters retain their relevance in 2026?
The volume is broadly divided between chapters on regulatory mechanisms (such as those involving calmodulin and membrane lipids) and those linking ion channels to disease states, including epilepsy and pain. It does not attempt to be comprehensive; instead, it presents selected examples as case studies of current progress, offering insights into how related mechanisms and diseases might be approached. While there is much of value here, I am less convinced that this volume matches the first two as a primary reference source, except for readers with specific interests in the topics covered.
One notable omission is the lack of an overview of rare diseases caused by point mutations in ion channel genes. Research in this area has provided significant insights, not only into the diseases themselves but also into fundamental channel properties, through detailed analysis of how specific mutations alter function.
In considering the issue of longevity, a useful benchmark is the FDA approval in 2025 of the NaV1.8 inhibitor suzetrigine for the treatment of certain forms of acute pain. This development appears to signal a broader trend toward increased approval of ion channel-targeting therapeutics. The chapter by Dean and Johnson discusses this class of compounds in detail, highlighting their selectivity for NaV1.8 and their promising early clinical results. They aptly describe these agents as offering “exciting possibilities for novel nonopioid pain therapies.”
This example underscores the value of commissioning subject experts to contribute to a carefully edited volume that aims both to define its field and to remain relevant over time. In this respect, the Textbook of Ion Channels succeeds admirably, and I recommend it strongly.