Ion permeation in potassium ion channels.

ABSTRACT: The study of ion channels dates back to the 1950s and the groundbreaking electrophysiology work of Hodgin and Huxley, who used giant squid axons to probe how action potentials in neurons were initiated and propagated. More recently, several experiments using different structural biology techniques and approaches have been conducted to try to understand how potassium ions permeate through the selectivity filter of potassium ion channels. Two mechanisms of permeation have been proposed, and each of the two mechanisms is supported by different experiments. The key structural biology experiments conducted so far to try to understand how ion permeation takes place in potassium ion channels are reviewed and discussed. Protein crystallography has made, and continues to make, key contributions in

SUBMITTER: Coates L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7137105 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature