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XB-ART-18549
Nature 1996 Feb 08;3796565:545-8. doi: 10.1038/379545a0.
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Promiscuous coupling between the sulphonylurea receptor and inwardly rectifying potassium channels.

Ammälä C , Moorhouse A , Gribble F , Ashfield R , Proks P , Smith PA , Sakura H , Coles B , Ashcroft SJ , Ashcroft FM .


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Sulphonylureas are a class of drugs widely used to treat non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. These drugs act by binding to a sulphonylurea receptor (SUR) in the pancreatic beta-cell membrane which inhibits an ATP-sensitive potassium (K-ATP) channel and thereby stimulates insulin secretion. There has been much debate as to whether SUR and the K-ATP channel are the same or separate proteins, whether SUR confers ATP-sensitivity on an ATP-insensitive pore-forming subunit, and whether sulphonylureas can also modulate other types of K-channel. We show here that SUR itself does not possess intrinsic channel activity but that it endows sulphonylurea sensitivity on several types of inwardly-rectifying K-channels. It does not necessarily confer ATP-sensitivity on these channels.

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Species referenced: Xenopus
Genes referenced: abcc8 ins