Structure of potassium channels

• Published in: Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences Vol. 72; no. 19; pp. 3677 - 3693
• Main Authors: Kuang, Qie, Purhonen, Pasi, Hebert, Hans
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Basel Springer Basel 01-10-2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Biophysics; Cell Biology; Conductivity; Dimerization; Gating; Ion Channel Gating - physiology; Life Sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Models, Molecular; Potassium; Potassium Channels - chemistry; Potassium Channels - classification; Potassium Channels - metabolism; Protein Structure, Tertiary; RCK; Review; Selectivity; Sensor domain; Species Specificity; Conductivity; Selectivity; Sensor domain; RCK; Gating
• ISSN: 1420-682X; 1420-9071; 1420-9071
• DOI: 10.1007/s00018-015-1948-5

Potassium channels ubiquitously exist in nearly all kingdoms of life and perform diverse but important functions. Since the first atomic structure of a prokaryotic potassium channel (KcsA, a channel from
Streptomyces lividans
) was determined, tremendous progress has been made in understanding the mechanism of potassium channels and channels conducting other ions. In this review, we discuss the structure of various kinds of potassium channels, including the potassium channel with the pore-forming domain only (KcsA), voltage-gated, inwardly rectifying, tandem pore domain, and ligand-gated ones. The general properties shared by all potassium channels are introduced first, followed by specific features in each class. Our purpose is to help readers to grasp the basic concepts, to be familiar with the property of the different domains, and to understand the structure and function of the potassium channels better.