title: Ion channels: doing hard chemistry with hard ions.
abstract: For years, the mechanisms and structural underpinnings of ion selectivity by ion channel proteins have been inferred by indirect experiments. The recently determined structure of a K(+) channel has put flesh on these bones, revealing the coordination chemistry responsible for the unusual combination of high selectivity and high transport rates in ion channels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. cmiller@brandeis.edu
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000737:chemistry*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D013302:Streptomyces
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D007473:Ion Channels; D015221:Potassium Channels; C107790:prokaryotic potassium channel