Structure of the voltage-dependent potassium channel is highly conserved from Drosophila to vertebrate central nervous systems.
Voltage-sensitive potassium channels are found in vertebrate and invertebrate central nervous systems. We have isolated a rat brain cDNA by cross-hybridization with a probe of the Drosophila Shaker gene complex. Structural conservation of domains of the deduced protein indicate that the rat brain cDNA encodes a voltage-sensitive potassium channel. Of the deduced amino acid sequence, 82% is homologous to the Drosophila Shaker protein indicating that voltage-sensitive potassium channels have been highly conserved during evolution. Selective pressure was highest on sequences facing the intracellular side and on proposed transmembrane segments S4-S6, suggesting that these domains are crucial for voltage-dependent potassium channel function. The corresponding rat mRNA apparently belongs to a family of mRNA molecules which are preferentially expressed in the central nervous system.
Baumann
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A
Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Lehrstuhl für Biochemie, FRG.
Grupe
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A
Ackermann
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A
Pongs
O
O
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D004330:Drosophila; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000032:analysis*; D051381:Rats
D015221:Potassium Channels; D004247:DNA