Permeation Mechanism of Potassium Ions through the Large Conductance Ca 2+ -Activated Potassium Channel.

ACS chemical neuroscience(2019)

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Abstract
The permeation of the potassium ion (K) through the selectivity filter (SF) of the large conductance Ca-activated potassium (Slo1) channel remains an interesting question to study. Although the mode of K entering and leaving the SF has been revealed, the mechanism of K passing through the SF is still not clear. In the present study, the pattern of K permeation through the SF is investigated by chemical computation and data mining based on the molecular structure of Slo1 from Aplysia californica. Both bond configurations and the free energy of Ks inside the SF was studied using Discovery Studio software. The results suggested that, to accommodate increasing energy levels and to tolerate more Ks, 4-fold symmetric subunits of SF can only move at one direction that is perpendicular to the center axis. In addition, two configurations of chemical bonds between Ks and the SF are usually employed including the chelate configuration under low free energy and the complex configuration under high free energy conditions. Moreover, three patterns of bond configurations for multiple Ks within the SF are used to accommodate the energetic changes of the SF, and each pattern is composed of one or two subconformations. These findings likely resulted from the evolutionary optimization of the protein function of Slo1. The specific conductance and the voltage-gating of the Slo1 channel can be reinterpreted with the permeation mechanism of Ks found in the current study. The permeation mechanism of Ks through the SF can be used to understand the interaction between various toxins and the Slo1 channel, and can be employed to develop new drugs targeting relevant ion channels.
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Key words
Molecular structure computation,chemical kinetics,coordination polymer,ion channel,membrane potential,potassium ion transportation
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