Beta-Barrel Channel Response to High Electric Fields: Functional Gating or Reversible Denaturation?

ABSTRACT: Ion channels exhibit gating behavior, fluctuating between open and closed states, with the transmembrane voltage serving as one of the essential regulators of this process. Voltage gating is a fundamental functional aspect underlying the regulation of ion-selective, mostly α-helical, channels primarily found in excitable cell membranes. In contrast, there exists another group of larger, and less selective, β-barrel channels of a different origin, which are not directly associated with cell excitability. Remarkably, these channels can also undergo closing, or "gating", induced by sufficiently strong electric fields. Once the field is removed, the channels reopen, preserving a memory of the gating process. In this study, we explored the hypothesis that the voltage-induced closure of the β-ba

SUBMITTER: Nestorovich EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10706840 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature