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TASK, TREK & Co.: a mutable potassium channel family for diverse tasks in the brain

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e-Neuroforum

Abstract

Discovered during the 1990s and in the beginning regarded as passive membrane pores, the family of two-pore domain potassium (K2P)-channels initially received only little attention. Today the view on this channel family comprising 15 ubiquitously expressed members in mammals has greatly changed. K2P-channels carry potassium outward current that counterbalances membrane depolarization and stabilizes the resting membrane potential. Thereby they are important regulators for the excitability and the firing behaviour especially in neurons. The long list of modulating mechanisms underlines the channels’ relevance. K2P-channels in the thalamus contribute to the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle. They also mediate the effect of volatile anaesthetics by supporting the thalamic activity mode that is also typical for sleep. This review summarizes our knowledge about K2P-channel physiology in the brain, provides an idea of the role of these channels in neurological diseases and lists open questions as well as technical challenges in K2P-channel research.

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Acknowledgement

We gratefully thank Heike Blum for excellent graphical illustration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurology Clinic, University of Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, 48149, Muenster, Germany

    Petra Ehling PhD, Stefan Bittner & Sven G. Meuth

  2. Institute of Physiology I, University of Münster, Robert-Koch-Str. 27a, 48149, Münster, Germany

    Thomas Budde

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  1. Petra Ehling PhD
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  2. Stefan Bittner
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  3. Sven G. Meuth
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  4. Thomas Budde
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Petra Ehling PhD.

Additional information

Note that a special issue on K2P-channels was published in Pflügers Archiv—European Journal of Physiology in May 2015. This issue is considerably based on contributions from members of the DFG research group “K2P-channels—from molecules to physiology and pathophysiology” (FOR1086).

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Ehling, P., Bittner, S., Meuth, S. et al. TASK, TREK & Co.: a mutable potassium channel family for diverse tasks in the brain. e-Neuroforum 6, 29–37 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13295-015-0007-x

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