title: Towards the three-dimensional structure of voltage-gated potassium channels.
abstract: Electrical excitability is a fundamental property of the neuromuscular systems of metazoans. The varied response of neurons to electrical excitation is largely accounted for by a diverse set of voltage-gated potassium (KV) channels in the excitable membrane. The complete structure of a KV channel is not yet available. However, recent structural biological experiments have begun to provide new insight into how specific KV channels are formed and regulated, and how they function and interact with other proteins. In particular, the selectivity of KV channels for K+ and suggestions as to how these structural elements might assemble into a functional KV channel are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Structural Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. choe@salk.edu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choe
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kreusch
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Pfaffinger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism*; D004594:Electrophysiology; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000502:physiology*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D015221:Potassium Channels