Many voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels display a time-dependent phenomenon called C-type inactivation, whereby prolonged activation by voltage leads to the inhibition of ionic conduction, a process that involves a conformational change at the selectivity filter toward a non-conductive state. Recently, a high-resolution structure of a strongly inactivated triple-mutant channel kv1.2-kv2.
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June 2024
Studies on the interaction sites of peptide toxins and ion channels typically involve site-directed mutations in toxins. However, natural mutant toxins exist among them, offering insights into how the evolutionary process has conserved crucial sequences for activities and molecular target selection. In this study, we present a comparative investigation using electrophysiological approaches and computational analysis between two alpha toxins from evolutionarily close scorpion species of the genus , namely, Tst3 and Ts3 from and , respectively.
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