Journal
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 4, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3746
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Welch Foundation [A-1742]
- TAMU
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Potassium (K+) channels are selective for K+ over Na+ ions during their transport across membranes. We and others have previously shown that tetrameric K+ channels are primarily occupied by K+ ions in their selectivity filters under physiological conditions, demonstrating the channel's intrinsic equilibrium preference for K+ ions. Based on this observation, we hypothesize that the preference for K+ ions over Na+ ions in the filter determines its selectivity during ion conduction. Here, we ask whether non-selective cation channels, which share an overall structure and similar individual ion-binding sites with K+ channels, have an ion preference at equilibrium. The variants of the non-selective Bacillus cereus NaK cation channel we examine are all selective for K+ over Na+ ions at equilibrium. Thus, the detailed architecture of the K+ channel selectivity filter, and not only its equilibrium ion preference, is fundamental to the generation of selectivity during ion conduction.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available