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Sci. STKE, 29 August 2006
Vol. 2006, Issue 350, p. pe33
[DOI: 10.1126/stke.3502006pe33]

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Multifunctional Potassium Channels: Electrical Switches and Redox Enzymes, All in One

Stefan H. Heinemann1* and Toshinori Hoshi2*

1Center for Molecular Biomedicine, Molecular and Cellular Biophysics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, D-07747 Jena, Germany.
2Department of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19004, USA.

Summary: Kv1-type K+ channels are protein complexes containing both voltage-sensing, pore-forming {alpha} subunits and modulatory Kvß subunits. Although some Kvß subunits include an amino-terminal region that allows them to transform noninactivating Kv1 channels into rapidly inactivating channels, the function of Kvß subunits that do not possess these inactivating amino-terminal regions has been less clear. Recent research demonstrates that Kvß2 acts as an NADPH (the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate)–dependent redox enzyme and that its catalytic activity can regulate the speed with which the Kv1.4-Kvß2 complex undergoes inactivation, suggesting that Kvß2 may link cellular metabolic activity and redox state with electrical signaling.

*E-mail: stefan.h.heinemann{at}uni-jena.de; E-mail: hoshi{at}mail.med.upenn.edu

Citation: S. H. Heinemann, T. Hoshi, Multifunctional Potassium Channels: Electrical Switches and Redox Enzymes, All in One. Sci. STKE 2006, pe33 (2006).

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