Potassium channel structures: do they conform?
Potassium channels are signalling elements vital to vertebrate neurotransmission, and cardiac and renal function. Two inherent qualities equip them for their role in the interconversion of chemical and electrical messages: high selectivity for potassium ions and the ability to open (gate) on cue. The crystal structure of KcsA, published in 1998, explained much about potassium selectivity and high ion flux. The enormous diversity of potassium channels (some hundreds of genes in humans) may have hampered similar progress in understanding gating processes. The recent determination of several representative structures has provided us with a valuable reference for discriminating between features that are utilized in gating across the potassium channel genre and features that determine responsiveness to family-specific gating cues.
Structural Biology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3050, Australia. jgulbis@wehi.edu.au
Jacqueline M
JM
Gulbis
Declan A
DA
Doyle
D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000502:physiology*; D017136:Ion Transport; D008024:Ligands; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011188:Potassium / Q000378:metabolism*; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D011487:Protein Conformation; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
D008024:Ligands; D015221:Potassium Channels; D011188:Potassium