Using mutagenesis to study potassium channel mechanisms.
The voltage-activated K+ channels are members of an ion channel family that includes the voltage-activated Na+ and Ca2+ channels. These ion channels mediate the transmembrane ionic currents that are responsible for the electrical signals produced by cells. The recent cloning of numerous voltage-activated K+ channels has made it possible to combine molecular-genetic and biophysical methods to study K+ channel mechanisms. These mutagenesis-function studies are beginning to provide new information about the architecture of K+ channel proteins and how they form a voltage-gated, K(+)-selective pore.
Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
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MacKinnon
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D015221:Potassium Channels