Physiology and Pathology of chloride transporters and channels in the nervous system: From molecules to diseases (repost)

The importance of chloride ions in cell physiology has not been fully recognized until recently, in spite of the fact that chloride (Cl-), together with bicarbonate, is the most abundant free anion in animal cells, and performs or determines fundamental biological functions in all tissues. For many years it was thought that Cl- was distributed in thermodynamic equilibrium across the plasma membrane of most cells. Research carried out during the last couple of decades has led to a dramatic change in this simplistic view.