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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Mutagenesis and Functional Analysis of Ion Channels Heterologously Expressed in Mammalian Cells
Published on: October 1, 2010
The bacterial K+ channel structure and its implications for neuronal channels
1Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA. gary_yellen@hms.harvard.edu
Abstract:
Voltage-gated K+ (Kv) channels play a central role in generating action potentials and rhythmic patterns, as well as in dendritic signal processing in neurons. Recently, the first structure of a member of the K+ channel family was solved. Although this channel is from bacteria and has a streamlined body plan with no voltage gating, it establishes the architecture of the functional core of the voltage-gated (K+) channels and their relatives. This architecture explains the crucial features of ion permeation and blockade, and gives some strong hints about gating. The bacterial K+ channel structure is the central piece in a puzzle; it remains to be seen how it will fit together with other domains of the Kv channels, with auxiliary subunits, and with other signal transduction molecules.
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