Repolarizing responses of BKCa-Cav complexes are distinctly shaped by their Cav subunits.

ABSTRACT: Large-conductance Ca(2+)- and voltage-activated potassium (BK(Ca)) channels shape the firing pattern in many types of excitable cell through their repolarizing K(+) conductance. The onset and duration of the BK(Ca)-mediated currents typically initiated by action potentials (APs) appear to be cell-type specific and were shown to vary between 1 ms and up to a few tens of milliseconds. In recent work, we showed that reliable activation of BK(Ca) channels under cellular conditions is enabled by their integration into complexes with voltage-activated Ca(2+) (Cav) channels that provide Ca(2+) ions at concentrations sufficiently high (> or =10 microM) for activation of BK(Ca) in the physiological voltage range. Formation of BK(Ca)-Cav complexes is restricted to a subset of Cav channels, Cav1.2 (L

SUBMITTER: Berkefeld H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6670555 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature