ABSTRACT
Functional Kir channels are formed by the homomeric or heteromeric assembly of four subunits, each Kir subunit containing two membrane-spanning domains (TM1 and TM2), an extracellular pore-forming region (H5) that includes the selectivity lter, and cytosolic NH2-and COOH-termini that associate with each other to form a cytoplasmic domain that controls gating (Figure 18.2) (Nishida et al. 2007, Whorton and MacKinnon 2011).
