Mechanism of potassium ion uptake by the Na+/K+-ATPase

Juan P. Castillo, Huan Rui, Daniel Basilio, Avisek Das, Benoît Roux, Ramon Latorre (), Francisco Bezanilla () and Miguel Holmgren ()
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Juan P. Castillo: Laboratorio de Fisiología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile
Huan Rui: University of Chicago, Gordon Center for Integrative Sciences
Daniel Basilio: Laboratorio de Fisiología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile
Avisek Das: University of Chicago, Gordon Center for Integrative Sciences
Benoît Roux: University of Chicago, Gordon Center for Integrative Sciences
Ramon Latorre: Laboratorio de Fisiología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile
Francisco Bezanilla: Laboratorio de Fisiología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile
Miguel Holmgren: Laboratorio de Fisiología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract The Na+/K+-ATPase restores sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) electrochemical gradients dissipated by action potentials and ion-coupled transport processes. As ions are transported, they become transiently trapped between intracellular and extracellular gates. Once the external gate opens, three Na+ ions are released, followed by the binding and occlusion of two K+ ions. While the mechanisms of Na+ release have been well characterized by the study of transient Na+ currents, smaller and faster transient currents mediated by external K+ have been more difficult to study. Here we show that external K+ ions travelling to their binding sites sense only a small fraction of the electric field as they rapidly and simultaneously become occluded. Consistent with these results, molecular dynamics simulations of a pump model show a wide water-filled access channel connecting the binding site to the external solution. These results suggest a mechanism of K+ gating different from that of Na+ occlusion.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8622

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