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Using mutagenesis to study potassium channel mechanisms

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Abstract

The voltage-activated K+ channels are members of an ion channel family that includes the voltage-activated Na+ and Ca2+ channels. These ion channels mediate the transmembrane ionic currents that are responsible for the electrical signals produced by cells. The recent cloning of numerous voltage-activated K+ channels has made it possible to combine molecular-genetic and biophysical methods to study K+ channel mechanisms. These mutagenesis-function studies are beginning to provide new information about the architecture of K+ channel proteins and how they form a voltage-gated, K+-selective pore.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Harvard Medical School, 02115, Boston, Massachusetts

    Roderick MacKinnon

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  1. Roderick MacKinnon
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MacKinnon, R. Using mutagenesis to study potassium channel mechanisms. J Bioenerg Biomembr 23, 647–663 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00785815

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00785815

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