Allosteric-activation mechanism of BK channel gating ring triggered by calcium ions

PLoS One. 2017 Sep 27;12(9):e0182067. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182067. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Calcium ions bind at the gating ring which triggers the gating of BK channels. However, the allosteric mechanism by which Ca2+ regulates the gating of BK channels remains obscure. Here, we applied Molecular Dynamics (MD) and Targeted MD to the integrated gating ring of BK channels, and achieved the transition from the closed state to a half-open state. Our date show that the distances of the diagonal subunits increase from 41.0 Å at closed state to 45.7Å or 46.4 Å at a half-open state. It is the rotatory motion and flower-opening like motion of the gating rings which are thought to pull the bundle crossing gate to open ultimately. Compared with the 'Ca2+ bowl' at RCK2, the RCK1 Ca2+ sites make more contribution to opening the channel. The allosteric motions of the gating ring are regulated by three group of interactions. The first weakened group is thought to stabilize the close state; the second strengthened group is thought to stabilize the open state; the third group thought to lead AC region forming the CTD pore to coordinated motion, which exquisitely regulates the conformational changes during the opening of BK channels by Ca2+.

MeSH terms

  • Allosteric Regulation
  • Animals
  • Calcium / metabolism*
  • Ion Channel Gating*
  • Large-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels / physiology*
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation
  • Principal Component Analysis

Substances

  • Large-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels
  • Calcium

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Fund of China (11647121, 31600594, 31400711, 81450064, 31671212, 11247010 and 11475053), Natural Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of Hebei Province of China (C2015202340), Fund for Outstanding Talents of Hebei Province of China (C201400305), Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (C2017202208), Fund for the Science and Technology Program of Higher Education Institutions of Hebei Province (QN2016113), Scientific Innovation Grant for Excellent Young Scientists of Hebei University of Technology (2015010). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.