Email updates   Journal App  google play app store Open Access
Research article   Amandine Duflocq123, Fabrice Chareyre4, Marco
Giovannini4, François Couraud123 and Marc Davenne123*  Author
Affiliations  1 INSERM UMRS 952, 9 Quai St Bernard, F-75005,
Paris, France  2 CNRS UMR 7224, 9 Quai St Bernard, F-75005,
Paris, France  3 UPMC Univ Paris 06, F-75005, Paris, France  4
Division of Clinical and Translational Research, House Research
Institute, Los Angeles, CA 90057, USA  For all author emails,
please log on.  BMC Biology 2011, 9:66 
doi:10.1186/1741-7007-9-66  Published: 29 September 2011    The
axon initial segment (AIS) plays a crucial role: it is the site
where neurons initiate their electrical outputs. Its composition
in terms of voltage-gated sodium (Nav) and voltage-gated
potassium (Kv) channels, as well as its length and localization
determine the neuron's spiking properties. Some neurons are able
to modulate their AIS length or distance from the soma in order
to adapt their excitability properties to