SINGLE POTASSIUM-ION SEEKS OPEN-CHANNEL FOR TRANSMEMBRANE TRAVELS - TALES FROM THE KCSA STRUCTURE

Potassium channels selectively catalyze potassium transport across cel l membranes. Over the past five decades, a multitude of potassium chan nel models have been proposed. The recent crystal structure determinat ion of the KcsA potassium channel confirms, corrects and expands our u nderstanding of a fundamental biological catalyst, revealing the basis of exquisite selectivity and near diffusion-limited throughput.