Structure of the human BK channel Ca2+-activation apparatus at 3.0 A resolution.
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Yuan P, Leonetti MD, Pico AR, Hsiung Y, MacKinnon R
Structure of the human BK channel Ca2+-activation apparatus at 3.0 A resolution.
Science. 2010 Jul 9;329(5988):182-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1190414. Epub 2010 May 27.
- PubMed ID
- 20508092 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
High-conductance voltage- and Ca2+-activated K+ (BK) channels encode negative feedback regulation of membrane voltage and Ca2+ signaling, playing a central role in numerous physiological processes. We determined the x-ray structure of the human BK Ca2+ gating apparatus at a resolution of 3.0 angstroms and deduced its tetrameric assembly by solving a 6 angstrom resolution structure of a Na+-activated homolog. Two tandem C-terminal regulator of K+ conductance (RCK) domains from each of four channel subunits form a 350-kilodalton gating ring at the intracellular membrane surface. A sequence of aspartic amino acids that is known as the Ca2+ bowl, and is located within the second of the tandem RCK domains, creates four Ca2+ binding sites on the outer perimeter of the gating ring at the "assembly interface" between RCK domains. Functionally important mutations cluster near the Ca2+ bowl, near the "flexible interface" between RCK domains, and on the surface of the gating ring that faces the voltage sensors. The structure suggests that the Ca2+ gating ring, in addition to regulating the pore directly, may also modulate the voltage sensor.