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Structure of the sodium channel pore revealed by serial cysteine mutagenesis
M T Pérez-García1, N Chiamvimonvat, E Marban
1Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Abstract:
The pores of voltage-gated cation channels are formed by four intramembrane segments that impart selectivity and conductance. Remarkably little is known about the higher order structure of these critical pore-lining or P segments. Serial cysteine mutagenesis reveals a pattern of side-chain accessibility that contradicts currently favored structural models based on alpha-helices or beta-strands. Like the active sites of many enzymes of known structure, the sodium channel pore consists of irregular loop regions.