The unique structural characteristics of the Kir 7.1 inward rectifier potassium channel: a novel player in energy homeostasis control.

ABSTRACT: The inward rectifier potassium channel Kir7.1, encoded by the KCNJ13 gene, is a tetramer composed of two-transmembrane domain-spanning monomers, closer in homology to Kir channels associated with potassium transport such as Kir1.1, 1.2, and 1.3. Compared with other channels, Kir7.1 exhibits small unitary conductance and low dependence on external potassium. Kir7.1 channels also show a phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP₂) dependence for opening. Accordingly, retinopathy-associated Kir7.1 mutations mapped at the binding site for PIP₂ resulted in channel gating defects leading to channelopathies such as snowflake vitreoretinal degeneration and Leber congenital amaurosis in blind patients. Lately, this channel's role in energy homeostasis was reported due t

SUBMITTER: Hernandez CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10026989 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature