Functional analysis of an archaebacterial voltage-dependent K+ channel

Vanessa Ruta, Youxing Jiang, Alice Lee, Jiayun Chen and Roderick MacKinnon ()
Additional contact information
Vanessa Ruta: Rockefeller University
Youxing Jiang: Rockefeller University
Alice Lee: Rockefeller University
Jiayun Chen: Rockefeller University
Roderick MacKinnon: Rockefeller University

Nature, 2003, vol. 422, issue 6928, 180-185

Abstract: Abstract All living organisms use ion channels to regulate the transport of ions across cellular membranes1. Certain ion channels are classed as voltage-dependent because they have a voltage-sensing structure that induces their pores to open in response to changes in the cell membrane voltage. Until recently, the voltage-dependent K+, Ca2+ and Na+ channels were regarded as a unique development of eukaryotic cells, adapted to accomplish specialized electrical signalling, as exemplified in neurons. Here we present the functional characterization of a voltage-dependent K+ (KV) channel from a hyperthermophilic archaebacterium from an oceanic thermal vent. This channel possesses all the functional attributes of classical neuronal KV channels. The conservation of function reflects structural conservation in the voltage sensor as revealed by specific, high-affinity interactions with tarantula venom toxins, which evolved to inhibit eukaryotic KV channels.

Date: 2003
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01473 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:422:y:2003:i:6928:d:10.1038_nature01473

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature01473

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().