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Researcher in structural biology. Doyle and collaborators determined a potassium channel structure, connecting atomic organization with the molecular explanation of selective potassium conduction.^[ref]

A potassium channel is an ion channel that preferentially conducts potassium ions. Its selectivity filter can compensate for the energetic cost of removing water from an ion, while discriminating between ions of different geometry. A crystal structure of a bacterial potassium channel revealed how repeated backbone oxygen atoms line the narrow filter. ^[ref]

Different potassium channels open under different conditions. Leak channels contribute to resting membrane potential, whereas voltage-dependent channels can support repolarization after an action potential. The direction of current depends on voltage relative to the potassium reversal potential, not simply on the channel's name. Selectivity and gating describe different aspects of its function.

Researcher in ion channel biophysics. Seoh and collaborators measured gating charge after neutralizing charged residues in a potassium channel, connecting particular amino acids with the channel’s response to voltage.^[ref]

Researcher in structural biology. Long and collaborators determined the architecture of a mammalian voltage-dependent potassium channel, connecting the positions of pore and voltage-sensing components with the mechanism of electrical activation.^[ref]

Researcher in ion channel biophysics. Hoshi and collaborators perturbed the amino-terminal region of Shaker potassium channels to investigate rapid inactivation, connecting a structural region with a time-dependent change in current.^[ref]

Researcher in ion channel biophysics. Zagotta and collaborators restored inactivation of mutant potassium channels with an introduced peptide, experimentally testing the pore-blocking interpretation of ball-and-chain inactivation.^[ref]