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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 282, Issue 34, 24485-24489, August 24, 2007

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Minireview

A Marriage of Convenience: -Subunits and Voltage-dependent K⁺ Channels^*

Yolima P. Torres, Francisco J. Morera^¶1, Ingrid Carvacho^¶1, and Ramon Latorre²

From the Department of Biophysics and Molecular Physiology, Centro de Estudios Cientificos, Valdivia 5110246, Chile, Escuela de Ciencias Básicas, Facultad de Salud, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia, and ^¶Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia 5099200, Chile

The movement of ions across cell membranes is essential for a wide variety of fundamental physiological processes, including secretion, muscle contraction, and neuronal excitation. This movement is possible because of the presence in the cell membrane of a class of integral membrane proteins dubbed ion channels. Ion channels, thanks to the presence of aqueous pores in their structure, catalyze the passage of ions across the otherwise ion-impermeable lipid bilayer. Ion conduction across ion channels is highly regulated, and in the case of voltage-dependent K⁺ channels, the molecular foundations of the voltage-dependent conformational changes leading to the their open (conducting) configuration have provided most of the driving force for research in ion channel biophysics since the pioneering work of Hodgkin and Huxley (Hodgkin, A. L., and Huxley, A. F. (1952) J. Physiol. 117, 500–544). The voltage-dependent K⁺ channels are the prototypical voltage-gated channels and govern the resting membrane potential. They are responsible for returning the membrane potential to its resting state at the termination of each action potential in excitable membranes. The pore-forming subunits () of many voltage-dependent K⁺ channels and modulatory -subunits exist in the membrane as one component of macromolecular complexes, able to integrate a myriad of cellular signals that regulate ion channel behavior. In this review, we have focused on the modulatory effects of -subunits on the voltage-dependent K⁺ (Kv) channel and on the large conductance Ca²⁺- and voltage-dependent (BK_Ca) channel.

^* This minireview will be reprinted in the 2007 Minireview Compendium, which will be available in January, 2008. Work on ion channels in the Latorre laboratory was supported by FONDECYT Grants 1030830 and 1070049 (to R. L.) and DID-UACH Grants D-2006-10 (to F. J. M.) and D-2005-18 (to I. C.).

¹ Supported by CONICYT doctoral fellowships.

² To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: 56-63-234501; Fax: 56-63-234515; E-mail: rlatorre{at}cecs.cl.

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