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May 2003
Opening gambit: Voltage sensing by potassium channels
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Voltage-dependent ion channels are responsible for action potentials, electrical impulses that underlie processes as varied as muscle contraction, cardiac rhythm, and information processing in the nervous system. High-resolution X-ray studies combined with functional analysis provide a detailed view of a voltage-dependent K+ channel, and how it responds to changes in membrane voltage, causing the pore to open. The cover shows the pore of the KvAP voltage-dependent K+ channel from the microbe Aeropyrum pernix. Four subunits surround a central pore (red sphere). Voltage sensor paddles (light blue), containing positively charged arginines (red side chains), surround the channel's perimeter. Changes in membrane voltage drive the paddles through the membrane, causing the pore to open.
X-ray structure of a voltage-dependent K+
channel
YOUXING JIANG, ALICE LEE, JIAYUN CHEN,
VANESSA RUTA, MARTINE CADENE, BRIAN T. CHAIT & RODERICK MACKINNON
Nature
423, 33–41 (2003); doi:10.1038/nature01580
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The principle of gating charge movement in a voltage-dependent
K+ channel
YOUXING JIANG, VANESSA RUTA,
JIAYUN CHEN, ALICE LEE & RODERICK MACKINNON
Nature 423,
42–48 (2003); doi:10.1038/nature01581
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Structural biology: Life's transistors
FRED
J. SIGWORTH
Voltage-gated ion channels control electrical activity in nerve,
muscle and many other cell types. The crystal structure of a bacterial voltage-gated
channel reveals the astonishingly simple design of its voltage sensor.
Nature
423, 21–22 (2003); doi:10.1038/423021a
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