title: Silver as a probe of pore-forming residues in a potassium channel.
abstract: In voltage-dependent potassium channels, the molecular determinants of ion selectivity are found in the P (pore) region, a stretch of 21 contiguous residues. Cysteine was introduced at each P region position in a Shaker potassium channel. Residues projecting side chains into the pore were identified by means of channel inhibition by a sulfhydryl-reactive potassium ion analog, silver ion. The pattern of silver ion reactivity contradicts a beta barrel architecture of potassium channel pores.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02254, USA.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lü
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003545:Cysteine / Q000494:pharmacology; D009154:Mutation; D009865:Oocytes; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D051637:Shaker Superfamily of Potassium Channels; D012834:Silver; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D015221:Potassium Channels; D051637:Shaker Superfamily of Potassium Channels; D012834:Silver; D003545:Cysteine