The Voltage Sensor in Voltage-Dependent Ion Channels

The voltage sensor in voltage-dependent ion channels.

In voltage-dependent Na, K, or Ca channels, the probability of opening is modified by the membrane potential. This is achieved through a voltage sensor that detects the voltage and transfers its energy to the pore to control its gate. We present here the theoretical basis of the energy coupling between the electric field and the voltage, which allows the interpretation of the gating charge that...

Voltage-Dependent Gating in a “Voltage Sensor-Less” Ion Channel

The voltage sensitivity of voltage-gated cation channels is primarily attributed to conformational changes of a four transmembrane segment voltage-sensing domain, conserved across many levels of biological complexity. We have identified a remarkable point mutation that confers significant voltage dependence to Kir6.2, a ligand-gated channel that lacks any canonical voltage-sensing domain. Simil...

Voltage-dependent ion channels and their gating.

Voltage-gated ion channels

differentiated newt cells, but not in their mammalian counterparts. There has been some progress along these lines but not at the level of pinpointing the genetic differences. It is important to remember that there are examples, such as the axolotl lens, where a particular tissue does not regenerate even though the animal is capable of regenerating other structures. Such a context may be more f...

VOLTAGE-GATED ION CHANNELS Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels

Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) protect against seizures through interactions with a variety of cellular targets. By affecting the functional activity of these targets, AEDs suppress abnormal hypersynchronous activity in brain circuits, leading to protection against seizures. The actions on these targets can be categorized into four broad groups: (i) modulation of voltage-gated ion channels, includi...