Using patch-clamp techniques, a Ca-dependent, voltage-gated K channel [K(Ca) channel] was isolated from the basolateral membrane of NaCl-absorbing intestinal epithelial cells of the goby Gillichthys mirabilis. This K(Ca) channel had a high conductance (approximately 150 pS) in the physiological range of membrane potential. Conclusive identification as a K channel is supported by dependence of t...

Introduction Post-translational modifications of proteins control a wide range of biological phenomena. An array of inorganic and organic molecules can be covalently attached to proteins, including other proteins such as ubiquitin (Ub) and Ub-like proteins (Ubls), for example, the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) and Nedd8. The covalent attachment of Ub or Ubls to substrate proteins involve...

Maintenance of a negative membrane potential in the cortical collecting duct (CCD) principal cell depends on a small-conductance, inward-rectifying basolateral membrane K+(Kir) channel. In the present study, a candidate cDNA encoding this K+ channel, CCD-IRK3, was isolated from a mouse collecting duct cell line, M1. CCD-IRK3 shares a high degree of homology with a human brain inward-rectifier K...

A few membrane vesicle trafficking (SNARE) proteins in plants are associated with signaling and transmembrane ion transport, including control of plasma membrane ion channels. Vesicle traffic contributes to the population of ion channels at the plasma membrane. Nonetheless, it is unclear whether these SNAREs also interact directly to affect channel gating and, if so, what functional impact this...

ATP-sensitive potassium (K(ATP)) channels activate under metabolic stress to protect neurons and cardiac myocytes. However, excessive channel activation may cause arrhythmia in the heart and silence neurons in the brain. Here, we report that PKC-mediated downregulation of K(ATP) channel number, via dynamin-dependent channel internalization, can act as a brake mechanism to control K(ATP) activat...

Wang, WenHui. Regulation of the ROMK channel: interaction of the ROMK with associate proteins. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Renal Physiol. 46): F826–F831, 1999.—The ROMK channel plays an important role in K recycling in the thick ascending limb (TAL) and K secretion in the cortical collecting duct (CCD). A large body of evidence indicates that the ROMK channel is a key component of the native K secreto...