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Related Concept Videos

Ion Channels01:19

Ion Channels

91.5K
The movement of ions like sodium, potassium, and calcium into and out of the cell is essential to maintain the electrochemical gradient in living cells. The ion channels—a class of membrane transport proteins—help maintain this ionic gradient for the smooth functioning of physiological activities such as maintaining cell size and volume, conducting nerve impulses, and gas and nutrient exchange.
Ion channels are specialized integral membrane proteins on the plasma membrane that allow...
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Non-gated Ion Channels01:24

Non-gated Ion Channels

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Ion channels are specialized proteins on the plasma membrane that allow charged ions to pass down their electrochemical gradient. Their main function is to maintain the membrane potential which is critical for cell viability. These channels are either gated or non-gated and can transport more than a thousand ions within milliseconds for the cellular event to occur.
Compared to the gated ion channels, the non-gated channels, also known as leakage or passive channels, have no gating mechanism....
8.3K
Antiepileptic Drugs: Sodium Channel Blockers01:08

Antiepileptic Drugs: Sodium Channel Blockers

1.8K
Antiepileptic drugs are specialized medications that prevent seizures in individuals diagnosed with epilepsy. These drugs primarily function by blocking the movement of sodium ions through channels in the neuronal membrane, inhibiting the repetitive firing of action potentials often associated with seizures.
Sodium channel blockers modulate ion channels, particularly voltage-gated sodium channels. They block only sodium ion movement.
Among the most commonly prescribed antiepileptic drugs are...
1.8K
Mechanically-gated Ion Channels01:12

Mechanically-gated Ion Channels

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Mechanically-gated ion channels are proteins found in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell membranes that open in response to mechanical stress. Tension, compression, swelling, and shear stress can alter the conformation of the protein, opening a transmembrane channel that allows the passage of ions for signal transmission. In eukaryotes, mechanically-gated channels are distributed in several regions like the neurons, lungs, skin, bladder, and heart, where they play critical roles in numerous...
7.8K
Ligand-gated Ion Channels01:19

Ligand-gated Ion Channels

14.4K
Ligand-gated ion channels are transmembrane proteins with a channel for ions to pass through and a binding site for a ligand. The channel opens only when a ligand attaches to the binding site.
Three Subfamilies of Ligand-gated Ion Channels
Ligand-gated ion channels fall into three subfamilies. The 'Cys-loop' includes the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glycine, and 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors. The second one is the 'Pore-loop' channels that...
14.4K
G-Protein Gated Ion Channels01:21

G-Protein Gated Ion Channels

5.8K
GPCRs are primarily responsible for our sense of smell, taste, and vision.  The binding of a sensory stimulus activates GPCR to stimulate effector proteins, many of which are ion channels in the sensory organs. GPCRs modulate the opening and closing of the target ion channels either directly by binding them, or by releasing second messengers that activate these channels. As ions move across the membrane, the membrane potential is altered, which induces an appropriate response.
Sensory...
5.8K

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Ion-triggered selectivity in bacterial sodium channels.

Simone Furini1, Carmen Domene2,3

  • 1Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy; simone.furini@unisi.it.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|May 9, 2018
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Potassium ions prevent sodium channel function by inducing a nonconductive state, not steric hindrance. This finding redefines understanding of bacterial sodium (Na+) channel selectivity and operation.

Keywords:
Markov state modelsconductionion channelsmembrane proteinsmolecular dynamics

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Area of Science:

  • Membrane biophysics
  • Computational biology
  • Structural biology

Background:

  • Bacterial sodium (Na+) channels are crucial membrane proteins.
  • Understanding ion selectivity in these channels remains a challenge.
  • Previous models focused on steric hindrance for ion selectivity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the mechanism of ion selectivity in bacterial Na+ channels.
  • To determine the role of ion-induced conformational changes versus steric effects.
  • To elucidate the atomic-level operation of Na+ channels.

Main Methods:

  • Extensive molecular dynamics simulations.
  • Markov state model analyses.
  • Analysis of ion permeation pathways and channel conformations.

Main Results:

  • Potassium (K+) ions induce a conformational change in the selectivity filter at positive potentials.
  • This conformational change leads to a nonconductive metastable state.
  • Steric effects are not the primary mechanism preventing K+ outward flux.

Conclusions:

  • Ion-triggered conformational changes, not steric hindrance, govern K+ exclusion.
  • This mechanism explains Na+ channel selectivity at the atomic scale.
  • Findings impact the understanding of bacterial Na+ channel function.