Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 3, 2026

Author Spotlight: Functional Site-Directed Fluorometry in Native Cells to Study Skeletal Muscle Excitability
Published on: June 2, 2023
Cryo-EM structure of the KvAP channel reveals a non-domain-swapped voltage sensor topology
Xiao Tao1, Roderick MacKinnon1
1Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics, The Rockefeller University, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York, United States.
Abstract:
Conductance in voltage-gated ion channels is regulated by membrane voltage through structural domains known as voltage sensors. A single structural class of voltage sensor domain exists, but two different modes of voltage sensor attachment to the pore occur in nature: domain-swapped and non-domain-swapped. Since the more thoroughly studied Kv1-7, Nav and Cav channels have domain-swapped voltage sensors, much less is known about non-domain-swapped voltage-gated ion channels. In this paper, using cryo-EM, we show that KvAP from Aeropyrum pernix has non-domain-swapped voltage sensors as well as other unusual features. The new structure, together with previous functional data, suggests that KvAP and the Shaker channel, to which KvAP is most often compared, probably undergo rather different voltage-dependent conformational changes when they open.
More Related Videos
10:22Reconstitution of a Kv Channel into Lipid Membranes for Structural and Functional Studies
Published on: July 13, 2013
11:42Reconstitution of a Transmembrane Protein, the Voltage-gated Ion Channel, KvAP, into Giant Unilamellar Vesicles for Microscopy and Patch Clamp Studies
Published on: January 22, 2015
Related Concept Videos
Electrochemical Gradient and Channel Proteins: An Overview
The electrical gradient: The electrical gradient across cell membranes refers to the difference in electric charge between the inside and outside of a cell. This difference drives the movement of ions towards or away from the cells. For instance, if the inside of the cell is more negatively charged relative to...
Voltage-gated Ion Channels
Generally, all voltage-gated ion channels have a 'voltage-sensing domain' that spans the lipid bilayer. The charged residues in the sensor move in response to the membrane potential changes that open the channel allowing ions movement. There are several...
Mechanically-gated Ion Channels
Ligand-Gated Ion Channel Receptor: Gating Mechanism
Potentiometry: Membrane Electrodes
Non-gated Ion Channels
Compared to the gated ion channels, the non-gated channels, also known as leakage or passive channels, have no gating mechanism....