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Calcium-Dependent Potassium Channels

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Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience

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Synonyms

BK channels (KCa1.1); SK channels (KCa2.x)

Definition

Calcium-dependent potassium channels are potassium-permeable channels whose gating is regulated by the intracellular calcium concentration. Small-conductance (10–20 pS) calcium-activated (SK) channels are purely gated by calcium, while the opening probability of large-conductance (> 100 pS) calcium-activated (BK) channels is a complex function of both membrane potential and intracellular calcium concentration (Fig. 1). Both SK and BK channels are composed of four subunits. Intermediate-conductance (IK) channels, which are not expressed in neurons, are not considered further here.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Left: Calcium-dependent activation of SK channels (Modified from Stocker 2004). Right: Calcium- and voltage-dependent activation of BK channels (Modified from Blaz and Magleby 1986)

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium

    Guillaume Drion

  2. Laboratory of Pharmacology and GIGA Neurosciences, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium

    Guillaume Drion, Fabian Philippart & Prof. Vincent Seutin

  3. Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Rodolphe Sepulchre

Authors
  1. Guillaume Drion
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  2. Fabian Philippart
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  3. Rodolphe Sepulchre
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  4. Prof. Vincent Seutin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vincent Seutin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Ranu Jung

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Drion, G., Philippart, F., Sepulchre, R., Seutin, V. (2014). Calcium-Dependent Potassium Channels. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_224-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_224-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7320-6

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