Voltage-gated potassium (K-V) channels are membrane proteins that respond to changes in membrane potential by enabling K+ ion flux across the membrane. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) induce channel opening by modulating the voltage-sensitivity, which can provide effective treatment against refractory epilepsy by means of a ketogenic diet. While PUFAs have been reported to influence the gating mechanism by electrostatic interactions to the voltage-sensor domain (VSD), the exact PUFA-protein interactions are still elusive. In this study, we report on the interactions between the Shaker K-V channel in open and closed states and a PUFA-enriched lipid bilayer using microsecond molecular dynamics simulations. We determined a putative PUFA binding site in the open state of the channel located at the protein-lipid interface in the vicinity of the extracellular halves of the S3 and S4 helices of the VSD. In particular, the lipophilic PUFA tail covered a wide range of non-specific hydrophobic interactions in the hydrophobic central core of the protein-lipid interface, while the carboxylic head group displayed more specific interactions to polar/charged residues at the extracellular regions of the S3 and S4 helices, encompassing the S3-S4 linker. Moreover, by studying the interactions between saturated fatty acids (SFA) and the Shaker K-V channel, our study confirmed an increased conformational flexibility in the polyunsaturated carbon tails compared to saturated carbon chains, which may explain the specificity of PUFA action on channel proteins.
Funding Agencies|Max Planck Society for Advancement of Science; Excellence Initiative "Research Center for Dynamic Systems: Biosystems Engineering"; Swedish Research Council [2013-5901]; Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation; Swedish Brain Foundation; Marie Curie Career Integration Grant [FP7-MC-CIG-618558]; Magnus Bergvalls Stiftelse [2014-00170]; Angstromke Wibergs Stiftelse [M14-0245]; Swedish e-Science Research Center (SeRC)