Ion Channel Assembly: Creating Structures that Function

With advances in recombinant DNA, structural, and electrophysiological techniques, much progress has been made in understanding the structure and, in particular, the function of ion channels. Less progress has been made in resolving the cell biological events that guide the assembly and trafficking of these proteins and that have a major impact on both structure and function. The assembly of an ion channel refers to the processes that transform newly synthesized, unfolded channel subunits into functional ion channels. The precise mechanisms by which any protein folds and assembles are unknown and the question of how proteins fold remains a major challenge in biology, attracting widespread attention (e.g., Brooks et al., 1998; Dobson and Ellis, 1998). Because single ion channels control the flow of ∼10⁷ ions/s, the malfunction or improper targeting of even a few channels can be disastrous for a cell. To avoid this, ion channel...