Potassium channel structures: do they conform?
- Author(s)
- Gulbis, JM; Doyle, DA;
- Details
- Publication Year 2004-08,Volume 14,Issue #4,Page 440-446
- Journal Title
- CURRENT OPINION IN STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY
- Publication Type
- Journal Article
- Abstract
- 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.
- Publisher
- CURRENT BIOLOGY LTD
- Keywords
- K+ CHANNEL; CRYSTAL-STRUCTURE; DOMAIN; SUBUNIT
- Publisher's Version
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbi.2004.06.008
- Terms of Use/Rights Notice
- Refer to copyright notice on published article.
Creation Date: 2004-08-01 12:00:00