Gating of a pH-sensitive K(2P) potassium channel by an electrostatic effect of basic sensor residues on the selectivity filter.
K(+) channels share common selectivity characteristics but exhibit a wide diversity in how they are gated open.Leak K(2P) K(+) channels TASK-2, TALK-1 and TALK-2 are gated open by extracellular alkalinization.The mechanism for this alkalinization-dependent gating has been proposed to be the neutralization of the side chain of a single arginine (lys