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Pore size matters for potassium channel conductance.

ABSTRACT: Ion channels are membrane proteins that mediate efficient ion transport across the hydrophobic core of cell membranes, an unlikely process in their absence. K(+) channels discriminate K(+) over cations with similar radii with extraordinary selectivity and display a wide diversity of ion transport rates, covering differences of two orders of magnitude in unitary conductance. The pore domains of large- and small-conductance K(+) channels share a general architectural design comprising a conserved narrow selectivity filter, which forms intimate interactions with permeant ions, flanked by two wider vestibules toward the internal and external openings. In large-conductance K(+) channels, the inner vestibule is wide, whereas in small-conductance channels it is narrow. Here we raise the idea that the physical dimensions of the hydrophobic internal vestibule limit ion transport in K(+) channels, accounting for their diversity in unitary conductance.

SUBMITTER: Naranjo D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5037345 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Pore size matters for potassium channel conductance.

Naranjo David D Moldenhauer Hans H Pincuntureo Matías M Díaz-Franulic Ignacio I

The Journal of general physiology 20160912 4

Ion channels are membrane proteins that mediate efficient ion transport across the hydrophobic core of cell membranes, an unlikely process in their absence. K(+) channels discriminate K(+) over cations with similar radii with extraordinary selectivity and display a wide diversity of ion transport rates, covering differences of two orders of magnitude in unitary conductance. The pore domains of large- and small-conductance K(+) channels share a general architectural design comprising a conserved ...[more]

PMID: 27619418

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Project description:The internal vestibule of large-conductance Ca(2+) voltage-activated K(+) (BK) channels contains a ring of eight negative charges not present in K(+) channels of lower conductance (Glu386 and Glu389 in hSlo) that modulates channel conductance through an electrostatic mechanism (Brelidze, T.I., X. Niu, and K.L. Magleby. 2003. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 100:9017-9022). In BK channels there are also two acidic amino acid residues in an extracellular loop (Asp326 and Glu329 in hSlo). To determine the electrostatic influence of these charges on channel conductance, we expressed wild-type BK channels and mutants E386N/E389N, D326N, E329Q, and D326N/E329Q channels on Xenopus laevis oocytes, and measured the expressed currents under patch clamp. Contribution of E329 to the conductance is negligible and single channel conductance of D326N/E329Q channels measured at 0 mV in symmetrical 110 mM K(+) was 18% lower than the control. Current-voltage curves displayed weak outward rectification for D326N and the double mutant. The conductance differences between the mutants and wild-type BK were caused by an electrostatic effect since they were enhanced at low K(+) (30 mM) and vanished at high K(+) (1 M K(+)). We determine the electrostatic potential change, Deltaphi, caused by the charge neutralization using TEA(+) block for the extracellular charges and Ba(2+) for intracellular charges. We measured 13 +/- 2 mV for Deltaphi at the TEA(+) site when turning off the extracellular charges, and 17 +/- 2 mV for the Deltaphi at the Ba(2+) site when the intracellular charges were turned off. To understand the electrostatic effect of charge neutralizations, we determined Deltaphi using a BK channel molecular model embedded in a lipid bilayer and solving the Poisson-Boltzmann equation. The model explains the experimental results adequately and, in particular, gives an economical explanation to the differential effect on the conductance of the neutralization of charges D326 and E329.

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Pore size matters for potassium channel conductance.

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Pore size matters for potassium channel conductance.

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