The intrinsic flexibility of the Kv voltage sensor and its implications for channel gating.

ABSTRACT: Analysis of the crystal structures of the intact voltage-sensitive potassium channel KvAP (from Aeropyrum pernix) and Kv1.2 (from rat brain), along with the isolated voltage sensor (VS) domain from KvAP, raises the question of the exact nature of the voltage-sensing conformational change that triggers activation of Kv and related voltage-gated channels. Molecular dynamics simulations of the isolated VS of KvAP in a detergent micelle environment at two different temperatures (300 K and 368 K) have been used to probe the intrinsic flexibility of this domain on a tens-of-nanoseconds timescale. The VS contains a positively charged (S4) helix which is packed against a more hydrophobic S3 helix. The simulations at elevated temperature reveal an intrinsic flexibility/conformational instability of

SUBMITTER: Sands ZA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1367311 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature