Referenced in: none

Automatically associated channels: Kv4.1 , Slo1

Title: Plasticity of acetylcholine receptor gating motions via rate-energy relationships.

Authors: Ananya Mitra, Richard Tascione, Anthony Auerbach, Stuart Licht

Journal, date & volume: Biophys. J., 2005 Nov , 89, 3071-8

PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16113115

Abstract
Like other protein conformational changes, ion channel gating requires the protein to achieve a high-energy transition-state structure. It is not known whether ion channel gating takes place on a broad energy landscape on which many alternative transition state structures are accessible, or on a narrow energy landscape where only a few transition-state structures are possible. To address this question, we measured how rate-equilibrium free energy relationships (REFERs) for di-liganded and unliganded acetylcholine receptor gating vary as a function of the gating equilibrium constant. A large slope for the REFER plot indicates an openlike transition state, whereas a small slope indicates a closedlike transition state. Due to this relationship between REFERs and transition-state structure, the sensitivity of the REFER slope to mutation-induced energetic perturbations allows estimation of the breadth of the energy landscape underlying gating. The relatively large sensitivity of di-liganded REFER slopes to energetic perturbations suggests that the motions underlying di-liganded gating take place on a broad, shallow energy landscape where many alternative transition-state structures are accessible.