Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Acute Activation of Maxi-K Channels ( hSlo ) by Estradiol Binding to the β Subunit

1999; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 285; Issue: 5435 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1126/science.285.5435.1929

1095-9203

Miguel A. Valverde, Patricio Rojas, Julio Amigo, Diego Cosmelli, Patricio Orio, María Isabel Bahamonde, Giovanni E. Mann, Cecilia Vergara, Ramón Latorre,

Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Study

Maxi-K channels consist of a pore-forming alpha subunit and a regulatory beta subunit, which confers the channel with a higher Ca(2+) sensitivity. Estradiol bound to the beta subunit and activated the Maxi-K channel (hSlo) only when both alpha and beta subunits were present. This activation was independent of the generation of intracellular signals and could be triggered by estradiol conjugated to a membrane-impenetrable carrier protein. This study documents the direct interaction of a hormone with a voltage-gated channel subunit and provides the molecular mechanism for the modulation of vascular smooth muscle Maxi-K channels by estrogens.