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Potassium channels are crucial regulators of membrane excitability. They control the frequency and shape of action potentials, regulate secretion of hormones and neurotransmitters and establish cell plasma membrane potential. This large family can be regulated by voltage, Ca2+, neurotransmitters and the signaling pathways that they stimulate. Structurally, potassium channels exist as tetramers and the pore forming entity is the α-subunit. There are more than 70 different genes encoding the K+ α-subunit in the human genome.
The figure below shows the proposed structure of voltage-gated potassium channels.
A. A single α subunit showing the K+ ion selectivity signature motif 'T/SxxTxGYG' within the pore loop.
B. The general assembly of the K+ channel; composed of four, P loop-containing α-subunits arranged in a tetrameric fashion.
The table below summarizes the key characteristics of some potassium channels.
Tocris offers the following scientific literature for Potassium Channels to showcase our products. We invite you to request* your copy today!
*Please note that Tocris will only send literature to established scientific business / institute addresses.
Peripheral sensitization is the reduction in the threshold of excitability of sensory neurons that results in an augmented response to a given external stimulus. This poster outlines the excitatory and inhibitory signaling pathways involved in modulation of peripheral sensitization. The role of ion channels, GPCRs, neurotrophins, and cytokines in sensory neurons are also described.
|Subtype||-||-||A-type||Delayed rectifier||Large conductance (maxi-K, BK)||Small conductance (SK)|
|Effect of Ca2+||Insensitive||Insensitive||Insensitive||Insensitive||Variable||High sensitivity|
|Effect of Voltage||Strong, inward rectification||Weak, inward rectification||Sensitive||Sensitive||Sensitive||Insensitive|
|Effect of ATP||Insensitive||Inhibits channel opening||Insensitive||Insensitive||Insensitive||Insensitive|
|Conductance (pS)||5-30||5-90||< 1-20||< 1-20||100-250||6-14|
Robertson et al (1997) The real life of voltage-gated K+ channels: more than model behaviour. TiPS 18 474. Mathie et al (1998) Voltage-activated potassium channels in mammalian neurons and their block by novel pharmacological agents. Gen.Pharmacol. 30 13. Vergara et al (1998) Calcium-activated potassium channels. Curr.Opin.Neurobiol. 8 321..