KirBac channels are prokaryotic homologs of mammalian inwardly rectifying (Kir) potassium channels ... conformation and determined the crystal structure of this mutant channel to 3.05 Å resolution.

“BK is the first potassium channel I studied, so it is enormously satisfying to finally observe its molecular structure,” concluded MacKinnon. Below, check out an interview with him from earlier this ...

Figure 1: BK channel structure and specific potassium permeability. Two-thirds of the SLO protein sequence forms the large cytoplasmic C-terminal domain; we therefore assign the large particle ...

Since 1998, Roderick MacKinnon, head of molecular neurobiology and biophysics, Rockefeller University, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator, and colleagues have published papers ...

opening in response to changes in membrane voltage and allowing potassium ions to escape. Hodgkin and Huxley laid out a model in 1952 for what voltage-gated channels might be doing, but their ...

The potassium ion channel, by contrast, is a tetramer, meaning its overall structure comprises four identical or similar subunits. These channels have only one pore encircled by the four parts.

Researchers have revealed the structure and function of a potassium ion channel in fruit flies. Their newly obtained insights reveal the differences between human and insect channels, explain how ...

Upon binding to calcium ions, BK channels allow the selective transport of potassium ions across cell membranes through a large pore within the protein structure. This process regulates potassium ion ...

Beyond gaining insight into the working principles of biological systems, highly potassium-selective artificial ion channels enable ... the unique pore structure and working principles found ...

The rapid-fire opening and closing of potassium channels, necessary for triggering neuronal signals and heartbeats, has been a topic of abiding interest. How, scientists wondered, could these ...

In Arabidopsis, the outward-rectifying potassium channel GORK drives potassium ... More information: Xue Zhang et al, GORK K+ channel structure and gating vital to informing stomatal engineering ...

joined forces with protein manufacturing company Cube Biotech and Bayer's Crop Science division to reveal the structure and function of a potassium ion channel from fruit flies. Their newly ...