Early Steps in C-Type Inactivation of the hERG Potassium Channel.

ABSTRACT: Fast C-type inactivation confers distinctive functional properties to the hERG potassium channel, and its association to inherited and acquired cardiac arrythmias makes the study of the inactivation mechanism of hERG at the atomic detail of paramount importance. At present, two models have been proposed to describe C-type inactivation in K⁺-channels. Experimental data and computational work on the bacterial KcsA channel support the hypothesis that C-type inactivation results from a closure of the selectivity filter that sterically impedes ion conduction. Alternatively, recent experimental structures of a mutated Shaker channel revealed a widening of the extracellular portion of the selectivity filter, which might diminish conductance by interfering with the mechanism of ion perm

SUBMITTER: Pettini F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9832476 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature