Atkinson N S, Robertson G A, Ganetzky B
Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706.
Science. 1991 Aug 2;253(5019):551-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1857984.
Calcium-activated potassium channels mediate many biologically important functions in electrically excitable cells. Despite recent progress in the molecular analysis of voltage-activated K+ channels, Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels have not been similarly characterized. The Drosophila slowpoke (slo) locus, mutations of which specifically abolish a Ca(2+)-activated K+ current in muscles and neurons, provides an opportunity for molecular characterization of these channels. Genomic and complementary DNA clones from the slo locus were isolated and sequenced. The polypeptide predicted by slo is similar to voltage-activated K+ channel polypeptides in discrete domains known to be essential for function. Thus, these results indicate that slo encodes a structural component of Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels.
钙激活钾通道介导了电可兴奋细胞中许多重要的生物学功能。尽管最近在电压激活钾通道的分子分析方面取得了进展，但钙激活钾通道尚未得到类似的表征。果蝇慢poke（slo）基因座的突变会特异性地消除肌肉和神经元中的钙激活钾电流，这为这些通道的分子表征提供了机会。从slo基因座分离并测序了基因组和互补DNA克隆。slo预测的多肽在已知对功能至关重要的离散结构域中与电压激活钾通道多肽相似。因此，这些结果表明slo编码钙激活钾通道的一种结构成分。
