Alteration of ionic selectivity of a K + channel by mutation of the H5 region

TLDR: This work has used site-directed mutagenesis and single-channel recordings to identify a molecular region that influences ionic selectivity in a cloned A-type K+ channel from Drosophila and concludes that the H5 region is likely to line the pore of the K+ channels.

Abstract: THE high ionic selectivity of K+ channels is a unifying feature of this diverse class of membrane proteins. Though K+ channels differ widely in regulation and kinetics, physiological studies have suggested a common structure: a single file pore containing multiple ion-binding sites and having broader vestibules at both ends1–5. We have used site-directed mutagenesis and single-channel recordings to identify a molecular region that influences ionic selectivity in a cloned A-type K+ channel from Drosophila. Single ammo-acid substitutions in H5, the fifth hydrophobic region6, enhanced the passage of NH+4 and Rb+, ions with diameters larger than K+, without compromising the ability of the channel to exclude the smaller cation, Na+. The mutations that substantially altered selectivity had little effect on the gating properties of the channel. We conclude that the H5 region is likely to line the pore of the K+ channel.