首页 | 本学科首页   官方微博 | 高级检索  
     


Towards a structural view of gating in potassium channels
Authors:Swartz Kenton J
Affiliation:Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Section, Porter Neuroscience Research Center, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, 35 Convent Drive, MSC 3701, Bethesda, MD 20892-3701, USA. swartzk@ninds.nih.gov
Abstract:
Voltage-activated cation channels have pores that are selective for K(+), Na(+) or Ca(2+). Neurons use these channels to generate and propagate action potentials, release neurotransmitters at synaptic terminals and integrate incoming signals in dendrites. Recent X-ray and electron microscopy studies of an archaebacterial voltage-activated K(+) (Kv) channel have provided the first atomic resolution images of the voltage-sensing domains in Kv channels. Although these structures are consistent with previous biophysical analyses of eukaryotic channels, they also contain surprises, which have provoked new ideas about the structure and movements of these proteins during gating. This review summarizes our current understanding of these intriguing membrane proteins and highlights the open questions.
Keywords:
本文献已被 PubMed 等数据库收录!
设为首页 | 免责声明 | 关于勤云 | 加入收藏

Copyright©北京勤云科技发展有限公司  京ICP备09084417号