Ca2+-activated K+ channels: From protein complexes to function
Oktober 2010
Berkefeld H, Fakler B, Schulte U.
Physiol Rev. 90(4):1437-59
Ca2+-activated K+ channels, key regulators of excitability in many types of excitable cells, link the concentration of intracellular calcium ions (Ca2+) to the membrane potential and thus translate the influx of Ca2+ into hyperpolarization. This work shows that these channels are 'macromolecular' machineries composed of multiple protein components and that they their reliable activation by Ca2+ results from formation of channel-channel complexes with some subtypes of voltage-activated calcium (Cav) channels.
