Micro- and macrokinetic behavior of the subunit gating channel

Modeling squid axon K+ channel by a nucleation and growth kinetic mechanism

A kinetic model accounting for all salient features of the K⁺ channel of the squid giant axon, including the rising phase of the ON gating charge and the Cole-Moore effect, is provided. Upon accounting for a significant feature distinguishing K⁺, Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ channels from channel-forming peptides modeled in our previous 2016 BBA paper, the nucleation-and-growth kinetic model developed therein is extended to simulate ON ionic and gating currents of the K⁺ channel of the squid giant axon at different depolarization potentials by the use of only two free parameters. K⁺ channel opening is considered to proceed by progressive aggregation of single subunits, while they are moving their gating charge outward under depolarizing conditions within their tetrameric structure; K⁺ channel closing proceeds in the opposite direction, by repolarization-induced disaggregation of subunits, accompanied by inward movement of their gating charge.

Structure and supramolecular architecture of membrane channel-forming peptides

Peptides gathering together to induce channels in lipid bilayers may be classified in several categories according to the spatial structures involved. For example, gramicidin A forms intramolecular tubes, alamethicin, bundles of helical rods with intermolecular pores, porins (being proteins, properly speaking) are rich in beta-sheets that may form barrels, whereas cyclic peptides might stack together resulting in the formation of pores. The chemical structure of these compounds is now well characterized. The transmembrane electrical signals that they transmit are also typical of the particular supramolecular configurations (or architecture). Investigations in this field are thus relevant to structure-function relationship studies due to the availability of natural or synthetic analogues allowing the measurement of the influence of physico-chemical parameters upon the energy profiles of the pores. Consequently, questions such as the existence and probabilities of conductance substrates, their voltage-dependence and their ion or molecular selectivity can be tackled. Today, the loosest aspect of these studies lies in the actual molecular conformations and architecture in the membranes of the peptide aggregates, the knowledge of which remains imprecise, even 'at rest' in the best-studied cases. This review attempts to point out still unresolved questions and to propose some plausible approaches concerning, for example: 1) the configurations of the molecular aggregates responsible for ion transfer; 2) the mechanisms for channel-opening and closing (gating); 3) the eventual cooperative phenomena between channels, via the bilayer or interfacial components. Possible applications of these structures will be tentatively outlined.

Gating processes of channels induced by colicin A, its C-terminal fragment and colicin E1 in planar lipid bilayers

The dependence on pH and membrane potential of the pore formed by colicin A and its C-terminal 20 kDa fragment has been measured using planar lipid bilayers. The single channel conductance of the pore formed by both colicin A and the fragment increases with pH with an apparent pK of 6.0. At pH 5.0 the gating by membrane potential of the channels formed by either colicin A or its fragment is identical. At the same pH, quite similar pore properties were found when using the related bacteriocin, colicin E1. In agreement with previous studies, these data indicate that the protein structure containing the lumen of the pore resides in the 20 kDa C-terminal part of the colicin A and favours the recently proposed model, based on protein sequence analysis, which proposes that colicin A, E1 and IB C-terminal domains are folded in the same three-dimensional structure. However, it is also shown that colicin A and not its C-terminal fragment undergoes a pH dependent transition between an "acidic" and a "basic" form of the pore with an apparent pK of 5.3. The two forms of the pore differ by their gating charge but not by the channel size. These results suggest that there is a pH dependent association between the C-terminal domain carrying the lumen of the pore and another domain of the molecule which affect the pore sensitivity to membrane potential.