Probing Conformational Changes during the Gating Cycle of a Potassium Channel in Lipid Bilayers.

ABSTRACT: Ion conduction across the cellular membrane requires the simultaneous opening of activation and inactivation gates of the K⁺ channel pore. The bacterial KcsA channel has served as a powerful system for dissecting the structural changes that are related to four major functional states associated with K⁺ gating. Yet, the direct observation of the full gating cycle of KcsA has remained structurally elusive, and crystal structures mimicking these gating events require mutations in or stabilization of functionally relevant channel segments. Here, we found that changes in lipid composition strongly increased the KcsA open probability. This enabled us to probe all four major gating states in native-like membranes by combining electrophysiological and solid-state NMR experime

SUBMITTER: van der Cruijsen EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5232892 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature