Ion channels articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Arabidopsis thaliana potassium channel AKT1 is responsible for primary K + uptake from soil, which is functionally activated through phosphorylation and negatively regulated by an α-subunit AtKC1. Here, the authors report the structures of AKT1 at different states, revealing a 2- fold to 4-fold symmetry switch at cytoplasmic domain associated with AKT1 activity regulation.

    • Yaming Lu
    • , Miao Yu
    •  & Guanghui Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, Chi et al. report cryo-EM structures of the human Kv3.1a channel, revealing a unique arrangement of the cytoplasmic T1 domain, which allows the interactions with the C-terminal axonal targeting motif and key components of the gating machinery. These findings provide insights into the functional relevance of previously unknown interdomain interactions in Kv3 channels and may guide the design of new pharmaceutical drugs.

    • Gamma Chi
    • , Qiansheng Liang
    •  & Katharina L. Dürr

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Kv1.3 potassium channel is expressed abundantly on activated T cells and mediates the cellular immune responses. Here, the authors report structures of the Kv1.3 potassium channel with and without immunoglobulin modulators, shedding light on the mechanisms of Kv1.3 gating and modulation.

    • Purushotham Selvakumar
    • , Ana I. Fernández-Mariño
    •  & Joel R. Meyerson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bestrophin channels are critical for physiology of the eye. Here, authors report cryo-EM structures of human bestrophins in various states at up to 1.8 Å resolution, revealing paralog-specific features that underlie molecular mechanisms of permeation.

    • Aaron P. Owji
    • , Jiali Wang
    •  & Tingting Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sperm motility and male fertility requires function of the CatSper calcium channels. Here, using cryo-electron tomography, authors visualize the native in-cell 3D structure and higher-order organization of the CatSper as long zigzag rows along the sperm tail.

    • Yanhe Zhao
    • , Huafeng Wang
    •  & Jean-Ju Chung

  • Article
    | Open Access

    TWIK1 is a pH-gated K + channel highly expressed in brain and heart that contributes to cardiac rhythm and insulin release. Here, Turney et al. use cryo-EM and electrophysiology to show how TWIK1 gates closed in response to lowered pH through conformational changes centered at the selectivity filter.

    • Toby S. Turney
    • , Vivian Li
    •  & Stephen G. Brohawn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cryo-EM often yields multiple protein conformations within a single dataset. Using the thermal titration methods and cryo-EM, Do Hoon Kwon et al. elucidate the conformational trajectory of the TRPV1 with resiniferatoxin (RTx) bound.

    • Do Hoon Kwon
    • , Feng Zhang
    •  & Seok-Yong Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    TMEM16A, a calcium-activated chloride channel involved in multiple cellular processes, is implicated in various diseases, but its pharmacology remains poorly understood. Here, the authors combine cryo-EM and electrophysiology to elucidate the mechanism of TMEM16A inhibition by the pore blocker 1PBC.

    • Andy K. M. Lam
    • , Sonja Rutz
    •  & Raimund Dutzler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Voltage-gated sodium channels mediate electrical signaling. Here, authors report the cryo-EM structure of NaVEh from the marine plant Emiliania huxleyi, revealing an unexpected mechanism of N-type fast inactivation.

    • Jiangtao Zhang
    • , Yiqiang Shi
    •  & Daohua Jiang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    SUR2-containing KATP channels are drug targets for certain vasodilators. Here, the authors determine high-resolution cryo-EM structures of SUR2 in complex with two vasodilators, P1075 and levcromakalim, uncovering the mechanisms of these drugs.

    • Dian Ding
    • , Jing-Xiang Wu
    •  & Lei Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The anion channel SLAC1 controls stomatal closure upon phosphoactivation. Here via structural analysis and electrophysiology, the authors propose an inhibition-release model where phosphorylation causes dissociation of a cytosolic plug from the SLAC1 transmembrane domains to induce conformational change in the pore-forming helices.

    • Yawen Li
    • , Yinan Ding
    •  & Linfeng Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A non-selective calcium channel transient receptor potential vanilloid 2 (TRPV2) is a potential drug target. Here, the authors employ cryo-electron microscopy, in silico docking, and electrophysiology to identify a binding site for an activator 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2-APB) in this channel.

    • Ruth A. Pumroy
    • , Anna D. Protopopova
    •  & Vera Y. Moiseenkova-Bell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Physiological matching of blood flow to the demand for oxygen by the heart is required for sustained cardiac health, yet the underlying mechanisms are obscure. Here, the authors report a key role for acute modifications to the redox state of intracellular pyridine nucleotides in coronary smooth muscle and their impact on voltage-gated K + channels in metabolic vasodilation

    • Marc M. Dwenger
    • , Sean M. Raph
    •  & Matthew A. Nystoriak

  • Article
    | Open Access

    T-type calcium channels are implicated in many diseases. Here, multiple structures of CaV3.3 channel elucidate molecular mechanisms of T-type CaV channels activation at low voltage and interaction with different clinically used channel blockers.

    • Lingli He
    • , Zhuoya Yu
    •  & Yan Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Constriction of the selectivity filter is assumed to be a hallmark of C-type inactivation in K+ channels. Using different high-resolution methods, this study shows a distinct C-type inactivation mechanism in a KcsA mutant that emulates Kv-channels.

    • Ahmed Rohaim
    • , Bram J. A. Vermeulen
    •  & Markus Weingarth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    IP3 receptors are intracellular calcium channels involved in numerous signaling pathways. Here, the authors present the cryo-EM structures of type-3 IP3 receptors in multiple gating conformations, including the active state revealing the molecular mechanism of the receptor activation.

    • Emily A. Schmitz
    • , Hirohide Takahashi
    •  & Erkan Karakas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mitochondrial Ca2+ homeostasis is reported to influence cellular senescence. Here the authors show that TRPC3 limits senescence by inhibiting IP3R-mediated Ca2+ release and ER mitochondria Ca2+ transfer and that the downregulation of TRPC3 in stromal cells affects SASP production and tumour progression.

    • Valerio Farfariello
    • , Dmitri V. Gordienko
    •  & Natalia Prevarskaya

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The intracellular domain (ICD) of Cys-loop receptors mediates many of their functions, but no complete structure of a Cys-loop receptor ICD is available to date. Here, the authors combine NMR and ESR spectroscopy to determine the full-length ICD structures of the human α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR).

    • Vasyl Bondarenko
    • , Marta M. Wells
    •  & Pei Tang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    AMPA glutamate receptors, mediate the majority of excitatory signaling in the brain. Here the authors show how the auxiliary subunit TARP-γ8 shapes gating kinetics, ion conductance and rectification properties of the heteromeric GluA1/2 AMPA receptor.

    • Beatriz Herguedas
    • , Bianka K. Kohegyi
    •  & Ingo H. Greger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antibiotic persisters are phenotypic variants within an isogenic bacterial population that are transiently tolerant to antibiotic treatment. Here, the authors provide evidence that cytoplasmic acidification, amplified by a compromised respiratory complex I, can act as a signaling hub for perturbed metabolic homeostasis in antibiotic persisters.

    • Bram Van den Bergh
    • , Hannah Schramke
    •  & Matthias Heinemann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Kir potassium channels are known to operate and gate without a major conformational change. Here, the authors identify the permeation gate of Kir channels as a steric plug within the conduction pathway, describing how tightly associated anionic lipids pushing into fenestrations in the pore walls engage with the plug to operate the gate.

    • Ruitao Jin
    • , Sitong He
    •  & Jacqueline M. Gulbis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photoactivable toxins targeting ion channels have great potential to control cell activity. Here the authors report HwTxIV-Nvoc, a UV light-cleavable and photoactivatable peptide that targets voltage-gated sodium channels; they validate this in cells, brain slices and in vivo on mice neuromuscular junctions.

    • Jérôme Montnach
    • , Laila Ananda Blömer
    •  & Michel De Waard

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Slowpoke (Slo) channels are voltage-gated potassium channels that are activated by high intracellular Ca2+ concentrations, and they are targets for insecticides and antiparasitic drugs. Here, the authors present the cryo-EM structures of the Drosophila melanogaster Slo channel in the Ca2+-bound and Ca2+-free conformations, as well as in complex with the fungal neurotoxin verruculogen and the anthelmintic drug emodepside and discuss the mechanisms by which they affect the activity of Slo.

    • Tobias Raisch
    • , Andreas Brockmann
    •  & Stefan Raunser

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors perform a large-scale, high-throughput biochemical assay to determine the compatibility of over 300,000 domain recombination variants of the inward rectifier K+ channel Kir2.1. They derive rules for designing domain insertion variants that fold and traffic to the cell surface and conclude that the insertion of domains at protein termini is evolutionary favoured.

    • Willow Coyote-Maestas
    • , David Nedrud
    •  & Daniel Schmidt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The rice Lsi1 aquaporin mediates uptake of silicic acid via the roots. Here the authors show the crystal structure of rice Lsi1 and characterize a unique five residue hydrophilic selectivity filter providing a structural basis for the highly selective activity of Lsi1 in Si uptake.

    • Yasunori Saitoh
    • , Namiki Mitani-Ueno
    •  & Michihiro Suga

  • Article
    | Open Access

    NaK is a bacterial non-selective cation channel. Here, the authors use solution NMR to show that selectivity filter (SF) in NaK is dynamic, with structural differences between the Na+ and K + -bound states. The conformation of the SF is communicated to the pore-lining helices similarly as in the K + -selective channels.

    • Adam Lewis
    • , Vilius Kurauskas
    •  & Katherine Henzler-Wildman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    GABAA receptors (GABAARs) cause inhibition in the brain by functioning as heteropentamers formed from multiple subunit types. Here, the authors demonstrate that receptors incorporating β3 subunits can spontaneously gate, which is modulated by protein kinases and neurosteroids to affect tonic inhibition.

    • Craig A. Sexton
    • , Reka Penzinger
    •  & Trevor G. Smart

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Volume-regulated anion channels (VRACs) are heteromers of LRRC8 proteins, all containing the obligatory subunit LRRC8A. Here, the authors develop and characterize nanobodies that bind LRRC8A and allosterically modulate the function of homomeric LRRC8A and endogenous heteromeric channels, hinting at functional mechanisms present in VRACs.

    • Dawid Deneka
    • , Sonja Rutz
    •  & Raimund Dutzler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    KdpFABC is a high-affinity bacterial K+ pump which combines the ion channel-like KdpA and the P-type ATPase KdpB. Here, the authors elucidate the mechanisms underlying transport and the coupling to ATP hydrolysis, and provide evidence that ions are transported via an intersubunit tunnel through KdpA and KdpB.

    • Jakob M. Silberberg
    • , Robin A. Corey
    •  & Inga Hänelt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Strategies to improve the function of damaged hearts with progenitor cells have stalled. Here, the authors show that gene transfer of a calcium-dependent potassium channel enhances the functional properties and ability of explant-derived cells to improve heart function after a heart attack.

    • Patrick Vigneault
    • , Sandrine Parent
    •  & Stanley Nattel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hetero-oligomeric TRP-like channels such as PKD1L3/PKD2L1 play crucial roles in a range of physiological and pathophysiological processes. Here, the authors present the cryo-EM structures of a minimal functional murine PKD1L3/PKD2L1 complex in the absence and presence of calcium and further supported through structure-guided mutagenic studies, they discuss the mechanism of calcium-induced channel activation.

    • Qiang Su
    • , Mengying Chen
    •  & Yigong Shi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP) potent Ca2+ mobilizing second messenger which uniquely triggers Ca2+ release from acidic endolysosomal organelles. Here the authors identify Lsm12 as an NAADP receptor essential for NAADP-evoked Ca2+ release from lysosomes via NAADP binding on its Lsm domain.

    • Jiyuan Zhang
    • , Xin Guan
    •  & Jiusheng Yan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sea urchin hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (spHCN) ion channels channels are activated by membrane hyperpolarization instead of depolarization and undergo inactivation with hyperpolarization. Here authors apply transition metal ion FRET, patch-clamp fluorometry and Rosetta modeling to measure differences in the structural rearrangements between activation and inactivation of spHCN channels.

    • Gucan Dai
    • , Teresa K. Aman
    •  & William N. Zagotta

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Structural and functional characterization of the full-length TRPV1 channel from the thirteen-lined ground squirrel reveal the architecture of the extracellular cap domain and the intracellular C-terminus, and suggest a role of the cap domain in TRPV1 conductance and ion selectivity.

    • Kirill D. Nadezhdin
    • , Arthur Neuberger
    •  & Alexander I. Sobolevsky

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The lipid regulation of mammalian ion channel function has emerged as a fundamental mechanism in the control of electrical signalling and transport specificity. Here, the authors combine molecular dynamics simulations, mutagenesis, and electrophysiology to provide mechanistic insights into how lipophilic molecules alter gating kinetics and K+ currents of hERG1.

    • Williams E. Miranda
    • , Jiqing Guo
    •  & Sergei Yu. Noskov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    ORAI3 is part of pore forming calcium channels involved in T cell activation. Here the authors show that there is increased expression of ORAI3 in T cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and that the transcription factor IKAROS negatively regulates the ORAI3 promoter, indicating a regulatory loop that can control auto-reactivity of T cells in these patients.

    • Zhongde Ye
    • , Yi Shen
    •  & Jörg J. Goronzy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The analysis of AMPA-type glutamate receptor (AMPAR) trafficking is essential for understanding molecular mechanisms of learning and memory, but the analytical tools are currently limited. Here, the authors report a method that combines affinity-based receptor labeling and bioorthogonal click chemistry to quantify AMPAR distribution and trafficking under physiological conditions.

    • Kento Ojima
    • , Kazuki Shiraiwa
    •  & Shigeki Kiyonaka

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