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Nature Chemical Biology 2, 401 - 402 (2006)
doi:10.1038/nchembio0806-401

Greasing the gears of potassium channels

Kenton J Swartz1

  1. Kenton J. Swartz is in the Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Section and Porter Neuroscience Research Center, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. e-mail: swartzk@ninds.nih.gov


Enzymatic conversion of sphingomyelin to ceramide-1-phosphate in the external leaflet of the cellular membrane has now been shown to markedly facilitate opening of classical voltage-activated potassium channels. This discovery raises the possibility that lipids may have more prominent roles in the gating mechanism of these important ion channels than was previously appreciated.

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