Quantitative analysis of the water occupancy around the selectivity filter of a K+ channel in different gating modes.

ABSTRACT: Recovery in K(+) channels, that is, the transition from the inactivated nonconductive selectivity filter conformation toward the conductive conformation, occurs on a time scale of the order of seconds, which is astonishingly long, given that the structural differences among the filter conformations are faint (<1 Å). Computational studies and electrophysiological measurements suggested that buried water molecules bound behind the selectivity filter are at the origin of the slowness of recovery in K(+) channels. Using a combination of solid-state NMR spectroscopy (ssNMR) and long molecular dynamics simulations, we sketch a high-resolution map of the spatial and temporal distribution of water behind the selectivity filter of a membrane-embedded K(+) channel in two different gating modes. Our

SUBMITTER: Weingarth M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4472312 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature