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To dislodge an enzyme from an ion channel, try steroids

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Voltage-gated K+ channels assemble into complexes with Kvβs, a group of aldoketoreductases. The Kvβs regulate channel gating and localization, and voltage-dependent changes in the channel regulate AKR activity. Pan and colleagues now propose a new type of modulation of this complex. Cortisone disrupts the complex and relieves channel inactivation—which should reduce neuronal excitability.

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Figure 1: Cortisone inserts between Kvβ and the Kv1 channel and disrupts their association.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Susy C. Kohout and Ehud Y. Isacoff are in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, and Divisions of Material and Physical Bioscience, University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. ehud@berkeley.edu,

    Susy C Kohout & Ehud Y Isacoff

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  1. Susy C Kohout
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  2. Ehud Y Isacoff
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Kohout, S., Isacoff, E. To dislodge an enzyme from an ion channel, try steroids. Nat Chem Biol 4, 650–651 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio1108-650

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