Electron microscopic analysis of KvAP voltage-dependent K+ channels in an open conformation.
Voltage-dependent ion channels serve as field-effect transistors by opening a gate in response to membrane voltage changes. The gate's response to voltage is mediated by voltage sensors, which are arginine-containing structures that must move with respect to the membrane electric field. We have analysed by electron microscopy a voltage-dependent K(+) channel from Aeropyrum pernix (KvAP). Fab fragments were attached to 'voltage sensor paddles' and identified in the electron microscopy map at 10.5 A resolution. The extracellular surface location of the Fab fragments in the map is consistent with the membrane-depolarized, open conformation of the channel in electrophysiological experiments. Comparison of the map with a crystal structure demonstrates that the voltage sensor paddles are 'up' (that is, near the channel's extracellular surface) and situated at the protein-lipid interface. This finding supports the hypothesis that in response to changes in voltage the sensors move at the protein-lipid interface rather than in a gating pore surrounded by protein.
Jiang
Qiu-Xing
QX
Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics, Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10021,USA.
Wang
Da-Neng
DN
MacKinnon
Roderick
R
D041522:Aeropyrum / Q000737:chemistry*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D007140:Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D024642:Potassium Channels, Voltage-Gated / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
D007140:Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments; D024642:Potassium Channels, Voltage-Gated