Equilibrium selectivity alone does not create K+-selective ion conduction in K+ channels

Ion conduction and selectivity in K(+) channels.

Potassium (K(+)) channels are tetrameric membrane-spanning proteins that provide a selective pore for the conductance of K(+) across the cell membranes. These channels are most remarkable in their ability to discriminate K(+) from Na(+) by more than a thousandfold and conduct at a throughput rate near diffusion limit. The recent progress in the structural characterization of K(+) channel provid...

Ion Conduction and Selectivity in K+ Channels

Ion selectivity and current saturation in inward-rectifier K+ channels

We investigated the features of the inward-rectifier K channel Kir1.1 (ROMK) that underlie the saturation of currents through these channels as a function of permeant ion concentration. We compared values of maximal currents and apparent K(m) for three permeant ions: K(+), Rb(+), and NH(4)(+). Compared with K(+) (i(max) = 4.6 pA and K(m) = 10 mM at -100 mV), Rb(+) had a lower permeability, a lo...

Preferential binding of K+ ions in the selectivity filter at equilibrium explains high selectivity of K+ channels

K(+) channels exhibit strong selectivity for K(+) ions over Na(+) ions based on electrophysiology experiments that measure ions competing for passage through the channel. During this conduction process, multiple ions interact within the region of the channel called the selectivity filter. Ion selectivity may arise from an equilibrium preference for K(+) ions within the selectivity filter or fro...

Dynamics of K+ ion conduction through Kv1.2.

The crystallographic structure of a potassium channel, Kv1.2, in an open state makes it feasible to simulate entire K(+) ion permeation events driven by a voltage bias and, thereby, elucidate the mechanism underlying ion conduction and selectivity of this type of channel. This Letter demonstrates that molecular dynamics simulations can provide movies of the overall conduction of K(+) ions throu...