Tunable pKa values and the basis of opposite charge selectivities in nicotinic-type receptors

Gisela D. Cymes and Claudio Grosman ()
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Gisela D. Cymes: Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, and Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Claudio Grosman: Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, and Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Nature, 2011, vol. 474, issue 7352, 526-530

Abstract: A versatile receptor family The nicotinic-receptor superfamily is the only family of ion channels that has evolved to generate both cation- and anion-selective members. The underlying mechanism for the observed charge selectivity is not entirely clear. Gisela Cymes and Claudio Grosman have determined that anion-selective type sequences favour the protonation of a conserved, basic amino acid residue at the intracellular entrance of the pore channel, whereas cation-selective type sequences prevent this protonation. This suggests that the charge state of buried basic amino acid side chains is an essential feature of the charge-selectivity filter of this family of ion channels.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/nature10015

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