A small-molecule activation mechanism that directly opens the KCNQ2 channel

  • Shaoying Zhang
  • , Demin Ma
  • , Kun Wang
  • , Ya Li
  • , Zhenni Yang
  • , Xiaoxiao Li
  • , Junnan Li
  • , Jiangnan He
  • , Lianghe Mei
  • , Yangliang Ye
  • , Zongsheng Chen
  • , Juwen Shen
  • , Panpan Hou
  • , Jiangtao Guo*
  • , Qiansen Zhang*
  • , Huaiyu Yang*
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pharmacological activation of voltage-gated ion channels by ligands serves as the basis for therapy and mainly involves a classic gating mechanism that augments the native voltage-dependent open probability. Through structure-based virtual screening, we identified a new scaffold compound, Ebio1, serving as a potent and subtype-selective activator for the voltage-gated potassium channel KCNQ2 and featuring a new activation mechanism. Single-channel patch-clamp, cryogenic-electron microscopy and molecular dynamic simulations, along with chemical derivatives, reveal that Ebio1 engages the KCNQ2 activation by generating an extended channel gate with a larger conductance at the saturating voltage (+50 mV). This mechanism is different from the previously observed activation mechanism of ligands on voltage-gated ion channels. Ebio1 caused S6 helices from residues S303 and F305 to perform a twist-to-open movement, which was sufficient to open the KCNQ2 gate. Overall, our findings provide mechanistic insights into the activation of KCNQ2 channel by Ebio1 and lend support for KCNQ-related drug development. (Figure presented.).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)847-856
Number of pages10
JournalNature Chemical Biology
Volume20
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2024

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