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XB-ART-5524
J Physiol 2003 May 15;549Pt 1:107-20. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2002.038646.
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Functional identification of ion binding sites at the internal end of the pore in Shaker K+ channels.

Thompson J , Begenisich T .


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The inner end of the pore in voltage-gated K+ channels is the site of conformational changes related to gating and contains binding sites for permeant ions and pore-blocking molecules including quaternary ammonium ions and drugs. In order to determine the location and affinity of ion binding sites we probed the Shaker K+ channel with the quaternary ammonium analogue, tetrabutyl antimony (TBSb), a compound that is sufficiently electron dense to have been observed to occupy the cavity site in the bacterial K+ channel, KcsA. TBSb has K+ channel blocking properties analogous to those of tetrabutyl ammonium (TBA), and kinetics slow enough to be reliably measured. In the presence of external TEA, the internal TBSb on-rate decreased with increased internal K+ concentration as if these permeant ions prevented TBSb access to its site in the pore. The TBSb off-rate in low K+ was increased with external TEA addition and then reduced with increased internal K+. We found several differences between the behaviour of internal TBSb and TEA suggesting these molecules bind to distinct but interacting sites in the pore. We also found several differences in how K+ and Rb+ ions occupy sites in the inner end of the pore. These data suggest the presence of three sites in the inner end of the pore: (1) a site near the cytoplasmic end that binds TEA and K+ (but not Rb+) ions; K+ ions binding to this site inhibit TBSb exit from the pore; (2) a TBSb site slightly more into the pore that is rarely occupied by K+ or Rb+ ions; (3) a site further into the pore that has a high affinity for K+ and Rb+ ions; occupancy of this site by these permeant ions increases the TBSb off-rate. These results provide information on the fine-structure of ion interactions with the inner end of the pore in K+ channels.

???displayArticle.pubmedLink??? 12665608
???displayArticle.pmcLink??? PMC2342912
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References [+] :
Armstrong, Inactivation of the potassium conductance and related phenomena caused by quaternary ammonium ion injection in squid axons. 1969, Pubmed