Conotoxin κM-RIIIJ, a tool targeting asymmetric heteromeric K_v1 channels.

ABSTRACT: The vast complexity of native heteromeric K⁺ channels is largely unexplored. Defining the composition and subunit arrangement of individual subunits in native heteromeric K⁺ channels and establishing their physiological roles is experimentally challenging. Here we systematically explored this "zone of ignorance" in molecular neuroscience. Venom components, such as peptide toxins, appear to have evolved to modulate physiologically relevant targets by discriminating among closely related native ion channel complexes. We provide proof-of-principle for this assertion by demonstrating that κM-conotoxin RIIIJ (κM-RIIIJ) from Conus radiatus precisely targets "asymmetric" K_v channels composed of three K_v1.2 subunits and one K_v1.1 or K

SUBMITTER: Cordeiro S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6338859 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature