Salkoff L, Baker K, Butler A, Covarrubias M, Pak M D, Wei A
Dept of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO 63110.
Trends Neurosci. 1992 May;15(5):161-6. doi: 10.1016/0166-2236(92)90165-5.
The molecular genetic approach to studying K+ channels has revealed that at least four subfamilies of voltage-gated K+ channels originally discovered in Drosophila are conserved in mice and humans. This conservation of the K+ channel subfamilies Shaker, Shal, Shab, and Shaw suggests that not only the broad outlines of membrane electrical properties but also many molecular details as well evolved in the parent species ancestral to both invertebrate and vertebrate life. Shaker, Shal, Shab, and Shaw K+ channels have similar structures, but appear to be independent channel systems: when co-expressed in Xenopus oocytes, all four function independently. These four K+ channel subfamilies may be part of an essential 'set' of excitable channels required by most nervous systems. The task now remaining is to understand the functions of each member of the set.
研究钾离子通道的分子遗传学方法表明，最初在果蝇中发现的电压门控钾离子通道至少有四个亚家族在小鼠和人类中是保守的。钾离子通道亚家族Shaker、Shal、Shab和Shaw的这种保守性表明，不仅膜电特性的大致轮廓，而且许多分子细节也是在无脊椎动物和脊椎动物生命的共同祖先物种中进化而来的。Shaker、Shal、Shab和Shaw钾离子通道具有相似的结构，但似乎是独立的通道系统：当在非洲爪蟾卵母细胞中共表达时，这四种通道都能独立发挥功能。这四个钾离子通道亚家族可能是大多数神经系统所需的基本“兴奋性通道集”的一部分。现在剩下的任务是了解该集合中每个成员的功能。
