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Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Reconstitution of a Kv Channel into Lipid Membranes for Structural and Functional Studies
Published on: July 13, 2013
A drug pocket at the lipid bilayer-potassium channel interface
Nina E Ottosson1, Malin Silverå Ejneby1, Xiongyu Wu2
1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Abstract:
Many pharmaceutical drugs against neurological and cardiovascular disorders exert their therapeutic effects by binding to specific sites on voltage-gated ion channels of neurons or cardiomyocytes. To date, all molecules targeting known ion channel sites bind to protein pockets that are mainly surrounded by water. We describe a lipid-protein drug-binding pocket of a potassium channel. We synthesized and electrophysiologically tested 125 derivatives, analogs, and related compounds to dehydroabietic acid. Functional data in combination with docking and molecular dynamics simulations mapped a binding site for small-molecule compounds at the interface between the lipid bilayer and the transmembrane segments S3 and S4 of the voltage-sensor domain. This fundamentally new binding site for small-molecule compounds paves the way for the design of new types of drugs against diseases caused by altered excitability.
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