1.A.1.4.7
The voltage-sensitive inward rectifying K⁺ channel, KAT1 (similar to 1.A.1.4.3; activated by protein 14-3-3 (AAF87262)) (Sottocornola et al., 2006). May also transport Na⁺ and Cs⁺ (Nakamura and Gaber, 2009). Forms heterotetrameric channels with KAT2 with a stoichiometry of 2:2 (Lebaudy et al., 2010). The pH-sensor is built of a sensory cloud rather than of single key amino acids (Gonzalez et al., 2011). The transmembrane core region of KAT1 is important for its activity in S. cerevisiae, and this involves not only the pore region but also parts of its voltage-sensor domain (Saito et al. 2017). Electromechanical coupling and gating polarity in KAT1 displays a depolarized voltage sensor, which interacts with a closed pore domain directly via two interfaces and indirectly via an intercalated phospholipid. Direct interaction between the sensor and the C-linker hairpin in the adjacent pore subunit is the primary determinant of gating polarity (Clark et al. 2020). Possibly an inward motion of the S4 sensor helix of 5-7 Å underlies a direct-coupling mechanism, driving a conformational reorientation of the C-linker and ultimately opening the activation gate formed by the S6 intracellular bundle. KAT1, and presumably other hyperpolarization-gated plant CNBD channels, can open from an S4-down VSD conformation homologous to the divalent/proton-inhibited conformation of EAG family K⁺ channels (Zhou et al. 2021).