Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Highlight
  • Published:

Ion channel structure

Switching on to potassium channels

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 6, page 667 (2005)Cite this article

Eukaryotic Kv channels are very similar to their prokaryotic counterparts. For example, the sequence of the selectivity filter — the part of the channel that confers specificity for K+ — is highly conserved and is likely to produce a similar structure in all K+ channels. But eukaryotic channels also have some unique features. To gain a better understanding of the structural basis of Kv channel function in eukaryotes, the researchers, led by Rod MacKinnon, chose to investigate Kv1.2, a member of the Shaker family of K+ channels.

To obtain crystals of Kv1.2 in its native arrangement, the group used a mixture of lipids and detergent during purification and crystallization. This clever approach helped to compensate for removal of the lipid membrane during isolation of the channel, keeping the voltage sensors correctly positioned with respect to the channel pore. The channel was crystallized in a complex with an oxidoreductase β-subunit, an auxiliary protein that might regulate mammalian Kv channels in their natural environment.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. Long, S. B. et al. Crystal structure of a mammalian voltage-dependent Shaker family K+ channel. Science 309, 897–903 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Long, S. B. et al. Voltage sensor of Kv1.2: structural basis of electromechanical coupling. Science 309, 903–908 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

FURTHER READING

  1. Jiang, Y. et al. X-ray structure of a voltage-dependent K+ channel. Nature 423, 33–41 (2003)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Swartz, K. J. Towards a structural view of gating in potassium channels. Nature Rev. Neurosci. 5, 905–916 (2004)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Rebecca Craven
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Craven, R. Switching on to potassium channels. Nat Rev Neurosci 6, 667 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1759

Download citation

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1759

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing