Preprint
Brief Report

Cracking the Secret Code of the Selectivity Ratio Between K+ and Na+ Ions in the KcsA K+ Channel

Altmetrics

Downloads

441

Views

374

Comments

1

This version is not peer-reviewed

Submitted:

03 August 2020

Posted:

03 August 2020

You are already at the latest version

Alerts
Abstract
The KcsA is a prokaryotic potassium-oriented channel, which is sourced from the Streptomyces lividans soil bacteria. From extensive studies that have been carried over the KcsA potassium channel, it has been proved that various factors enable the gating and shuttling of the potassium ions into and out of the cells. Some of the factors include the different concentration of protons in the inside and outside membrane. The other factor is the existence of the selectivity filter equipped in the exit of channel pore, which enables the movement of the K+ ions. Not only are potassium ions present in the channel but also sodium ions. Potassium and sodium ions are the ions that are essential in the conductivity of a cell because of their charge. An intuitive idea about why K+ ions are at least 10,000 times more permeant than Na+ ions is presented in various entities. The hypothesis is that the selectivity ratio is probably related to the successive entry of Na+ ions, based on the premise that the ratio seems to be relevant to unpredictable quantities caused by Brownian corrosion of ions.
Keywords: 
Subject: Biology and Life Sciences  -   Anatomy and Physiology
Copyright: This open access article is published under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, which permit the free download, distribution, and reuse, provided that the author and preprint are cited in any reuse.
Prerpints.org logo

Preprints.org is a free preprint server supported by MDPI in Basel, Switzerland.

Subscribe

© 2024 MDPI (Basel, Switzerland) unless otherwise stated