Abstract
Selective cation transport across membranes is critical for rapid signaling in neurons and to setup ion gradients required for nutrient import. K+ channels are a ubiquitous protein family that is highly selective for K+ over Na+ during ion conduction. They also have an inherent equilibrium preference for K+ ions over Na+ ions, suggesting that the equilibrium preference of a cation channel is important for its conduction selectivity. We present data showing K+ channel variants that non-selectively conduct K+ and Na+ ions but who retain their equilibrium preference for K+ ions. Based on this result, we propose a model of K+ channel selectivity that relies on the architecture of the K+ channel to translate the equilibrium preference into K+-selective ion conduction (an inherently non-equilibrium process).
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