1.A.1.17.1
The archaeal voltage-regulated K channel, KvAP (Ruta et al., 2003). X-ray and solution structures are available. The latter shows phospholipid interactions with the isolated voltage sensor domain (Butterwick and MacKinnon 2010; Li et al. 2014). The gating-charge arginine in TMS4 of the voltage sensor forms part of the helical hairpin "paddle", and it moves 15-20 Å through the membrane to open the pore (Ruta et al., 2005). The orientation and depth of insertion of the voltage-sensing S4 helix has been determined (Doherty et al., 2010). A synthetic S6 segment derived from the KvAP channel self-assembles, permeabilizes lipid vesicles, and exhibits ion channel activity in bilayer lipid membrane (Verma et al., 2011).  Thus the gating mechanism combines structural rearrangements and electric-field remodeling ( Li et al. 2014).  KvAP has been reconstituted in Giant Unilamellar Vesicles (GUVs) (Garten et al. 2015).  TMS4 (S4) which senses voltage also promotes membrane insertion of the voltage-sensor domain (Mishima et al. 2016). KvAP has a configuration consistent with a water channel, possibly underlying the conductance of protons, and other cations, through voltage-sensor domains (Freites et al. 2006). The structural dynamics of the paddle motif loop in the activated conformation of the KvAP voltage sensor have been studied from biophysical standpoints (Das et al. 2019). The S4 alpha-helix, which is straight in the experimental crystal structure solved under depolarized conditions (Vm approximately 0), breaks into two segments when the cell membrane is hyperpolarized (Vm << 0) and reversibly forms a single straight helix following depolarization (Vm = 0) ((Bignucolo and Bernèche 2020). The outermost segment of S4 translates along the normal to the membrane, bringing new perspective to previously paradoxical accessibility experiments that were initially thought to imply the displacement of the whole VSD across the membrane. The breakage of S4 under (hyper)polarization could be a general feature of Kv channels with a non-swapped topology. The surface charge of the membrane does not significantly affect the topology and structural dynamics of the sensor loop in membranes (Das and Raghuraman 2021). The dynamic variability of the sensor loop is preserved in both zwitterionic (POPC) and anionic (POPC/POPG) lipid membranes. The lifetime distribution analysis for the NBD-labelled residues by the maximum entropy method (MEM) demonstrates that, in contrast to micelles, the membrane environment not only reduces the relative discrete population of sensor loop conformations, but also broadens the lifetime distribution peaks. The local curvature of cellular membranes acts as a driving force for the targeting of membrane-associated proteins to specific membrane domains, as well as a sorting mechanism for transmembrane proteins, as demonstrated for KvAP (Kluge et al. 2022). Conformational heterogeneity of the voltage sensor loop of the K⁺ channel, KvAP, in micelles and membranes has been documented (Das and Raghuraman 2021).