ArticleNature structural & molecular biology2009
Mechanism of potassium-channel selectivity revealed by Na(+) and Li(+) binding sites within the KcsA pore.
Article in Nature structural & molecular biology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 96 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
96 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Ion Selectivity in the ENaC/DEG Family: A Systematic Review with Supporting Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Pooled it
- The SLC-ome of membrane transport: from molecular discovery to physiology and clinical applications.Physiological reviews · 2026Review
- Hydrogel Phase Transition-Driven Soft Gating Circumvents Debye Screening for Advanced Biosensing.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Extracellular and Membrane Protein: Structure, Biological Functions, Diseases, and an Emerging Modality for Drug Discovery.MedComm · 2026Review
- Biomimetic action-potential transmission via mechano-gated potassium channels assembled by quadruple hydrogen-bonded crown ethers.Science advances · 2026Article
- Effects of natural Lithium and Lithium isotopes on voltage gated sodium channel activity in SH-SY5Y and IPSC derived cortical neurons.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Bio-inspired pores for selective ion transport.National science review · 2025Article
- Flexibility-Induced Collective Behavior Drives Symmetry Breaking in Discrimination of Undesired Ions.JACS Au · 2025Article
- A highly-selective biomimetic potassium channel.National science review · 2024Article
- Mimicking classical noise in ion channels by quantum decoherence.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The Molecular Mechanism of Ion Selectivity in Nanopores.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Effects of lithium isotopes on sodium/lithium co-transport and calcium efflux through the sodium/calcium/lithium exchanger in mitochondria.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Article
- Alkali metal cations modulate the geometry of different binding sites in HCN4 selectivity filter for permeation or block.The Journal of general physiology · 2023Article
- Unique Properties of Nutrient Channels onPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
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- A cooperative knock-on mechanism underpins Ca2+-selective cation permeation in TRPV channels.The Journal of general physiology · 2023Article
- Updating view of membrane transport proteins by simulation studies.Biophysics and physicobiology · 2023Article
- Molecular Events behind the Selectivity and Inactivation Properties of Model NaK-Derived Ion Channels.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Quantum coherence on selectivity and transport of ion channels.Scientific reports · 2022Article
36 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Potassium channels allow K(+) ions to diffuse through their pores while preventing smaller Na(+) ions from permeating. Discrimination between these similar, abundant ions enables these proteins to control electrical and chemical activity in all organisms. Selection occurs at the narrow selectivity filter containing structurally identified K(+) binding sites. Selectivity is thought to arise because smaller ions such as Na(+) do not bind to these K(+) sites in a thermodynamically favorable way. Using the model K(+) channel KcsA, we examined how intracellular Na(+) and Li(+) interact with the pore and the permeant ions using electrophysiology, molecular dynamics simulations and X-ray crystallography. Our results suggest that these small cations have a separate binding site within the K(+) selectivity filter. We propose that selective permeation from the intracellular side primarily results from a large energy barrier blocking filter entry for Na(+) and Li(+) in the presence of K(+), not from a difference of binding affinity between ions.
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