Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42321197›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Volatile anaesthetics modulate voltage-gated sodium channel function at a site directly linked to channel gating.

David Hollingworth, Karl F Herold, Geoff Kelly, Vitaliy B Mykhaylyk, B A Wallace, Hugh C Hemmings

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

David Hollingworth *School of Natural Sciences, Birkbeck University of London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7490-5310
Karl F Herold *Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8614-0578
Geoff KellyThe Medical Research Council Biomedical NMR Centre, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1149-0717
Vitaliy B MykhaylykDiamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Chilton, Didcot, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-0106-2724
B A WallaceSchool of Natural Sciences, Birkbeck University of London, London, UK. b.wallace@bbk.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0001-9649-5092
Hugh C HemmingsDepartment of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA. hchemmi@med.cornell.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-6043-5482

Funding

SYNAPTIC MECHANISMS OF GENERAL ANESTHETIC ACTIONR01GM058055 · NIGMS · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · PI HEMMINGS, HUGH C · 1998 to 2023
$10.1M
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM058055Wellcome Trust CC1078
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) mediate neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission and are functionally relevant targets for volatile anaesthetic (VA) actions. Here, we show that multiple VAs at clinically relevant concentrations share binding sites on NavMs, a prokaryotic VGSC. Sevoflurane, a representative VA, interacts with NavMs and NaChBac with functional effects paralleling those on human VGSCs, including modulation of channel inactivation. X-ray crystallography of purified NavMs reveals an atomic-resolution VA binding site in a VGSC, in which sevoflurane displaces lipid to occupy a membrane-embedded hydrophobic pocket. Alanine substitution of an invariant tyrosine within this binding pocket abolishes sevoflurane binding and eliminates the sevoflurane-induced hyperpolarising shift of steady-state inactivation. Sevoflurane modulates both fast and slow inactivation of human Nav1.1, demonstrating VA modulation of steady-state slow inactivation in a neuronal VGSC. Supporting evidence shows that VAs interact with homologous sites in human VGSCs. These findings define a VA binding site in VGSCs that supports a membrane-assisted pathway for modulating channel gating and neuronal activity in general anaesthesia.

Indexed as

Anesthetics, InhalationIon Channel GatingSevofluraneVoltage-Gated Sodium ChannelsAnimalsBacterial ProteinsBinding SitesCrystallography, X-RayHumansProtein BindingSodium ChannelsAnesthetics, InhalationBacterial ProteinsNaChBac protein, bacteriaSevofluraneSodium ChannelsVoltage-Gated Sodium Channels

Identifiers

PMID42321197
PMCPMC13434745

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.