The seeming contradiction that K channels conduct K ions at maximal throughput rates while not permeating slightly smaller Na ions has perplexed scientists for decades. Although numerous models have addressed selective permeation in K channels, the combination of conduction efficiency and ion selectivity has not yet been linked through a unified functional model. Here, we investigate the mechanism of ion selectivity through atomistic simulations totalling more than 400 μs in length, which include over 7,000 permeation events. Together with free-energy calculations, our simulations show that both rapid permeation of K and ion selectivity are ultimately based on a single principle: the direct knock-on of completely desolvated ions in the channels' selectivity filter. Herein, the strong interactions between multiple 'naked' ions in the four filter binding sites give rise to a natural exclusion of any competing ions. Our results are in excellent agreement with experimental selectivity data, measured ion interaction energies and recent two-dimensional infrared spectra of filter ion configurations.

Potassium channels are presumed to have two allosterically coupled gates, the activation gate and the selectivity filter gate, that control channel opening, closing, and inactivation. However, the molecular mechanism of how these gates regulate K+ ion flow through the channel remains poorly understood. An activation process, occurring at the selectivity filter, has been recently proposed for several potassium channels. Here, we use X-ray crystallography and extensive molecular dynamics simulations, to study ion permeation through a potassium channel MthK, for various opening levels of both gates. We find that the channel conductance is controlled at the selectivity filter, whose conformation depends on the activation gate. The crosstalk between the gates is mediated through a collective motion of channel helices, involving hydrophobic contacts between an isoleucine and a conserved threonine in the selectivity filter. We propose a gating model of selectivity filter-activated potassium channels, including pharmacologically relevant two-pore domain (K2P) and big potassium (BK) channels.

Background: Both phospholamban (PLB) and sarcolipin (SLN) regulate SERCA activity, however, only SLN uncouples SERCA. Results:The N and C termini of SLN, or the N terminus and transmembrane region of PLB, confer protein-specific function. Conclusion: SLN N terminus plays a role in dynamic interaction and uncoupling of SERCA. Significance: SERCA uncoupling by SLN increases heat production implicating SLN-SERCA interaction in muscle thermogenesis.

Several small drugs and medicinal plant extracts, such as the Indian spice extract curcumin, have a wide range of useful pharmacological properties that cannot be ascribed to binding to a single protein target alone. The lipid bilayer membrane is thought to mediate the effects of many such molecules directly via perturbation of the plasma membrane structure and dynamics, or indirectly by modulating transmembrane protein conformational equilibria. Furthermore, for bioavailability, drugs must interact with and eventually permeate the lipid bilayer barrier on the surface of cells. Biophysical studies of the interactions of drugs and plant extracts are therefore of interest. Molecular dynamics simulations, which can access time and length scales that are not simultaneously accessible by other experimental methods, are often used to obtain quantitative molecular and thermodynamic descriptions of these interactions, often with complementary biophysical measurements. This review considers recent molecular dynamics simulations of small drug‐like molecules with membranes, and provides a biophysical description of possible routes of membrane‐mediated pharmacological effects of drugs. The review is not exhaustive, and we focus on molecules containing aromatic ring‐like structures to develop our hypotheses. We also show that some drugs and anesthetics may have an effect on the lipid bilayer analogous to that of cholesterol.

Ion conduction through potassium channels is a fundamental process of life. On the basis of crystallographic data, it was originally proposed that potassium ions and water molecules are transported through the selectivity filter in an alternating arrangement, suggesting a “water-mediated” knock-on mechanism. Later on, this view was challenged by results from molecular dynamics simulations that revealed a “direct” knock-on mechanism where ions are in direct contact. Using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance techniques tailored to characterize the interaction between water molecules and the ion channel, we show here that the selectivity filter of a potassium channel is free of water under physiological conditions. Our results are fully consistent with the direct knock-on mechanism of ion conduction but contradict the previously proposed water-mediated knock-on mechanism.