The critical role of voltage-gated cation channels (VGCCs) relies on a complex voltage-dependent activation mechanism linking two physiologically relevant channel states, open-activated (AT) and closed-resting (RT). Following the early publication of the x-ray crystal structure of the mammalian Kv1.2 channel in the AT conformation, atomistic models for the RT state of the channel have been proposed. For all of these models, structural analyses demonstrated a consensual explanation of experimental data, thereby highlighting the unambiguous nature of these RT structures. Taken together, these structural studies on Kv1.2 have contributed so far with most of our atomic-level knowledge on the activation mechanism of VGCCs. More recently, the x-ray structure of a prokaryotic voltage-gated sodium channel, NavAb, was resolved in a conformation that was interpreted as representative of the pre-open state of the channel. As one of the possible ancestors of the large family of vertebrate voltage-gated Na+ and Ca++ channels, the appearance of the NavAb structure has provided us with a first, and so far unique, template to extend our knowledge towards other members of the large family of VGCCs. Accordingly, in this contribution, we have considered the well-understood AT and RT structures of Kv1.2, equilibrated in a lipid bilayer, as guide structural models to drive a series of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations aimed at to study the activation process of NavAb. While identifying the reported NavAb structure as an intermediate conformation, not fully-activated, our work has enabled us to determine channel conformations likely related to the RT and AT states of the channel. Overall, the structural results support an activation mechanism highly conserved across the entire family of VGCCs.