Charybdotoxin, a protein inhibitor of single Ca2+-activated K+ channels from mammalian skeletal muscle (original) (raw)

Nature volume 313, pages 316–318 (1985)Cite this article

Abstract

The recent development of techniques for recording currents through single ionic channels1 has led to the identification of a K+-specific channel that is activated by cytoplasmic Ca2+ (refs 2–12). The channel has complex properties, being activated by depolarizing voltages and having a voltage-sensitivity that is modulated by cytoplasmic Ca2+ levels. The conduction behaviour of the channel is also unusual, its high ionic selectivity being displayed simultaneously with a very high unitary conductance2,4,12. Very little is known about the biochemistry of this channel, largely due to the lack of a suitable ligand for use as a biochemical probe for the channel. We describe here a protein inhibitor of single Ca2+-activated K+ channels of mammalian skeletal muscle. This inhibitor, a minor component of the venom of the Israeli scorpion, Leiurus quinquestriatus, reversibly blocks the large Ca2+-activated K+ channel in a simple bimolecular reaction. We have partially purified the active component, a basic protein of relative molecular mass (_M_r) ∼ 7,000.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Department of Biochemistry, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, 02254, USA
    Christopher Miller, Edward Moczydlowski, Ramon Latorre & Marcia Phillips
  2. Faculty of Basic and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Chile and Centro de Estudios Cientificos de Santiago, Casilla, 16443, Santiago, Chile
    Ramon Latorre

Authors

  1. Christopher Miller
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  2. Edward Moczydlowski
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  3. Ramon Latorre
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  4. Marcia Phillips
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Miller, C., Moczydlowski, E., Latorre, R. et al. Charybdotoxin, a protein inhibitor of single Ca2+-activated K+ channels from mammalian skeletal muscle.Nature 313, 316–318 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/313316a0

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