ArticleThe Journal of general physiology2011
Low resistance, large dimension entrance to the inner cavity of BK channels determined by changing side-chain volume.
Article in The Journal of general physiology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed.
- Lipid gating of BK channels and activation mechanism by negatively charged lipids.Communications chemistry · 2026Article
- Post-intensive Care Syndrome (PICS): an American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Critical Care Committee Consensus Guideline - Defining, Recognizing, and Managing PICS Associated Physical Impairment, Cognitive Dysfunction, and Thromboinflammatory Dysregulation.Trauma surgery & acute care open · 2026Article
- Guard cells on the adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces use different compositions of potassium ion channels to drive light-induced stomatal opening.Nature plants · 2025Article
- BK channels of five different subunit combinations underlie the de novo KCNMA1 G375R channelopathy.The Journal of general physiology · 2023Article
- Queueing arrival and release mechanism for KThe journal of physiological sciences : JPS · 2019Article
- Hydrophobic gating in BK channels.Nature communications · 2018Article
- Threading the biophysics of mammalian Slo1 channels onto structures of an invertebrate Slo1 channel.The Journal of general physiology · 2017Review
- Structural basis for gating the high-conductance CaNature · 2017Article
- Pore size matters for potassium channel conductance.The Journal of general physiology · 2016Review
- Effective pore size and radius of capture for K(+) ions in K-channels.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- Calcium ions open a selectivity filter gate during activation of the MthK potassium channel.Nature communications · 2015Article
- Pore dimensions and the role of occupancy in unitary conductance of Shaker K channels.The Journal of general physiology · 2015Article
- What keeps Kv channels small? The molecular physiology of modesty.The Journal of general physiology · 2015Article
- The First Extracellular Domain Plays an Important Role in Unitary Channel Conductance of Cx50 Gap Junction Channels.PloS one · 2015Article
- Hydrophobic interaction between contiguous residues in the S6 transmembrane segment acts as a stimuli integration node in the BK channel.The Journal of general physiology · 2015Article
- BK channels: multiple sensors, one activation gate.Frontiers in physiology · 2015Review
- Charge at the 46th residue of connexin 50 is crucial for the gap-junctional unitary conductance and transjunctional voltage-dependent gating.The Journal of physiology · 2014Article
- Keeping you healthy: BK channel activation by omega-3 fatty acids.The Journal of general physiology · 2013Article
- Lack of negative slope in I-V plots for BK channels at positive potentials in the absence of intracellular blockers.The Journal of general physiology · 2013Article
- The voltage-dependent gate in MthK potassium channels is located at the selectivity filter.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2013Article
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3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Large-conductance Ca(2+)- and voltage-activated K(+) (BK) channels have the largest conductance (250-300 pS) of all K(+)-selective channels. Yet, the contributions of the various parts of the ion conduction pathway to the conductance are not known. Here, we examine the contribution of the entrance to the inner cavity to the large conductance. Residues at E321/E324 on each of the four α subunits encircle the entrance to the inner cavity. To determine if 321/324 is accessible from the inner conduction pathway, we measured single-channel current amplitudes before and after exposure and wash of thiol reagents to the intracellular side of E321C and E324C channels. MPA(-) increased currents and MTSET(+) decreased currents, with no difference between positions 321 and 324, indicating that side chains at 321/324 are accessible from the inner conduction pathway and have equivalent effects on conductance. For neutral amino acids, decreasing the size of the entrance to the inner cavity by substituting large side-chain amino acids at 321/324 decreased outward single-channel conductance, whereas increasing the size of the entrance with smaller side-chain substitutions had little effect. Reductions in outward conductance were negated by high [K(+)](i). Substitutions had little effect on inward conductance. Fitting plots of conductance versus side-chain volume with a model consisting of one variable and one fixed resistor in series indicated an effective diameter and length of the entrance to the inner cavity for wild-type channels of 17.7 and 5.6 Å, respectively, with the resistance of the entrance ∼7% of the total resistance of the conduction pathway. The estimated dimensions are consistent with the structure of MthK, an archaeal homologue to BK channels. Our observations suggest that BK channels have a low resistance, large entrance to the inner cavity, with the entrance being as large as necessary to not limit current, but not much larger.
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