ATP-Sensitive Potassium Channels Exhibit Variance in the Number of Open Channels below the Limit Predicted for Identical and Independent Gating

Kee-Hyun Choi and Stuart Licht

PLOS ONE, 2012, vol. 7, issue 5, 1-6

Abstract: In small cells containing small numbers of ion channels, noise due to stochastic channel opening and closing can introduce a substantial level of variability into the cell's membrane potential. Negatively cooperative interactions that couple a channel's gating conformational change to the conformation of its neighbor(s) provide a potential mechanism for mitigating this variability, but such interactions have not previously been directly observed. Here we show that heterologously expressed ATP-sensitive potassium channels generate noise (i.e., variance in the number of open channels) below the level possible for identical and independent channels. Kinetic analysis with single-molecule resolution supports the interpretation that interchannel negative cooperativity (specifically, the presence of an open channel making a closed channel less likely to open) contributes to the decrease in noise. Functional coupling between channels may be important in modulating stochastic fluctuations in cellular signaling pathways.

Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0037399

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0037399

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