How membrane proteins sense voltage.
The ionic gradients across cell membranes generate a transmembrane voltage that regulates the function of numerous membrane proteins such as ion channels, transporters, pumps and enzymes. The mechanisms by which proteins sense voltage is diverse: ion channels have a conserved, positively charged transmembrane region that moves in response to changes in membrane potential, some G-protein coupled receptors possess a specific voltage-sensing motif and some membrane pumps and transporters use the ions that they transport across membranes to sense membrane voltage. Characterizing the general features of voltage sensors might lead to the discovery of further membrane proteins that are voltage regulated.
Bezanilla
Francisco
F
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, 929 East 57th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. fbezanilla@uchicago.edu
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D015640:Ion Channel Gating; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000378:metabolism
D008565:Membrane Proteins; D015221:Potassium Channels; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled