X-ray structure of the mammalian GIRK2-βγ G-protein complex.

ABSTRACT: G-protein-gated inward rectifier K(+) (GIRK) channels allow neurotransmitters, through G-protein-coupled receptor stimulation, to control cellular electrical excitability. In cardiac and neuronal cells this control regulates heart rate and neural circuit activity, respectively. Here we present the 3.5 Å resolution crystal structure of the mammalian GIRK2 channel in complex with βγ G-protein subunits, the central signalling complex that links G-protein-coupled receptor stimulation to K(+) channel activity. Short-range atomic and long-range electrostatic interactions stabilize four βγ G-protein subunits at the interfaces between four K(+) channel subunits, inducing a pre-open state of the channel. The pre-open state exhibits a conformation that is intermediate between the closed conformation

SUBMITTER: Whorton MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4654628 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature