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Structural biology

Ion channel twists to open

Nature volume 498, pages 182–183 (2013)Cite this article

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GIRK channels allow potassium ions to cross the cell membrane, thereby affecting the electrical status of the cell and so its functioning. Structural data now provide insight into the channels' mode of operation. See Article p.190

Ion channels are the main units responsible for the electrical activity in our body. They constitute a large family of some 400 proteins in humans. A subfamily of these proteins consists of four GIRK channels1, which specialize in converting chemical signals — mostly those of neurotransmitter molecules such as acetylcholine, dopamine, serotonin and adrenaline — into electrical ones in heart cells and neurons. They are therefore essential for controlling heart rate and the activity of neural circuits. In this issue, Whorton and MacKinnon2 (page 190) describe the long-awaited crystal structure of the mammalian GIRK2 channel in complex with two subunits of a G protein (a dimer of the Gβ and Gγ subunits), providing information about their mechanism of openingFootnote 1.

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Figure 1: The GIRK2 channel in action2.

Notes

  1. *This article and the paper under discussion2 were published online on 5 June 2013.

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  1. Eitan Reuveny is in the Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.,

    Eitan Reuveny

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  1. Eitan Reuveny
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Correspondence to Eitan Reuveny.

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Reuveny, E. Ion channel twists to open. Nature 498, 182–183 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12255

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