title: Constitutive activation of the Shaker Kv channel.
abstract: In different types of K+ channels the primary activation gate is thought to reside near the intracellular entrance to the ion conduction pore. In the Shaker Kv channel the gate is closed at negative membrane voltages, but can be opened with membrane depolarization. In a previous study of the S6 activation gate in Shaker (Hackos, D.H., T.H. Chang, and K.J. Swartz. 2002. J. Gen. Physiol. 119:521-532.), we found that mutation of Pro 475 to Asp results in a channel that displays a large macroscopic conductance at negative membrane voltages, with only small increases in conductance with membrane depolarization. In the present study we explore the mechanism underlying this constitutively conducting phenotype using both macroscopic and single-channel recordings, and probes that interact with the voltage sensors or the intracellular entrance to the ion conduction pore. Our results suggest that constitutive conduction results from a dramatic perturbation of the closed-open equilibrium, enabling opening of the activation gate without voltage-sensor activation. This mechanism is discussed in the context of allosteric models for activation of Kv channels and what is known about the structure of this critical region in K+ channels.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892. email: swartzk@ninds.nih.gov
authors.forename: Manana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sukhareva
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Hackos
authors.forename: Kenton J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Swartz
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000502:physiology*; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D051637:Shaker Superfamily of Potassium Channels; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D015221:Potassium Channels; D051637:Shaker Superfamily of Potassium Channels