KCNK2: reversible conversion of a hippocampal potassium leak into a voltage-dependent channel.
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Bockenhauer D, Zilberberg N, Goldstein SA
KCNK2: reversible conversion of a hippocampal potassium leak into a voltage-dependent channel.
Nat Neurosci. 2001 May;4(5):486-91.
- PubMed ID
- 11319556 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
Potassium leak channels are essential to neurophysiological function. Leaks suppress excitability through maintenance of resting membrane potential below the threshold for action potential firing. Conversely, voltage-dependent potassium channels permit excitation because they do not interfere with rise to threshold, and they actively promote recovery and rapid re-firing. Previously attributed to distinct transport pathways, we demonstrate here that phosphorylation of single, native hippocampal and cloned KCNK2 potassium channels produces reversible interconversion between leak and voltage-dependent phenotypes. The findings reveal a pathway for dynamic regulation of excitability.