Gerhard Thiel

The selectivity filter of K+ channels catalyzes a rapid and highly selective transport of K+ while serving as a gate. To understand the control of this filter gate, we use the pore-only K+ channel KcvNTS in which gating is exclusively determined by the activity of the filter gate. It has been previously shown that a mutation at the C-terminus of the pore-helix (S42T) increases K+ permeability and introduces distinct voltage-dependent and K+-sensitive channel closures at depolarizing voltages. Here, we report that the latter are not generated by intrinsic conformational changes of the filter gate but by a voltage-dependent block caused by nanomolar trace contaminations of Ba2+ in the KCl solution. Channel closures can be alleviated by extreme positive voltages and they can be completely abolished by the high-affinity Ba2+ chelator 18C6TA. By contrast, the same channel closures can be augmented by adding Ba2+ at submicromolar concentrations to the cytosolic buffer. These data suggest that a conservative exchange of Ser for Thr in a crucial position of the filter gate increases the affinity of the filter for Ba2+ by >200-fold at positive voltages. While Ba2+ ions apparently remain only for a short time in the filter-binding sites of the WT channel before passing the pore, they remain much longer in the mutant channel. Our findings suggest that the dwell times of permeating and blocking ions in the filter-binding sites are tightly controlled by interactions between the pore-helix and the selectivity filter.