L-type calcium channels (LTCC) are responsible for Ca2+ influx into
muscle and neurons. These macromolecular complexes minimally comprise the main
poreforming CaVα1 and auxiliary subunits CaVβ and CaVα2δ1.
The
ultrastructure of the oligomeric LTCC complexes from heart and skeletal muscle
has been reported previously at ≈ 20 Å, a resolution that prevent
identification of structural domains.
Recent
improvements in cryo-electronic microscopy (EM) methods made it possible to obtain a
three-dimensional structure of the rabbit skeletal muscle LTCC CaV1.1
complex at a resolution of 4.2 Å and recently at 3.6 Å. This technique requires
only nanograms of purified proteins and circumvents crystallization as a means
for structure determination.
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