scholarly journals The weak voltage dependence of pannexin 1 channels can be tuned by N-terminal modifications

2018 ◽  
Vol 150 (12) ◽  
pp. 1758-1768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Michalski ◽  
Erik Henze ◽  
Phillip Nguyen ◽  
Patrick Lynch ◽  
Toshimitsu Kawate

Pannexins are a family of ATP release channels important for physiological and pathological processes like blood pressure regulation, epilepsy, and neuropathic pain. To study these important channels in vitro, voltage stimulation is the most common and convenient tool, particularly for pannexin 1 (Panx1). However, whether Panx1 is a voltage-gated channel remains controversial. Here, we carefully examine the effect of N-terminal modification on voltage-dependent Panx1 channel activity. Using a whole-cell patch-clamp recording technique, we demonstrate that both human and mouse Panx1, with their nativeN termini, give rise to voltage-dependent currents, but only at membrane potentials larger than +100 mV. This weak voltage-dependent channel activity profoundly increases when a glycine–serine (GS) motif is inserted immediately after the first methionine. Single-channel recordings reveal that the addition of GS increases the channel open probability as well as the number of unitary conductance classes. We also find that insertions of other amino acid(s) at the same position mimics the effect of GS. On the other hand, tagging the N terminus with GFP abolishes voltage-dependent channel activity. Our results suggest that Panx1 is a channel with weak voltage dependence whose activity can be tuned by N-terminal modifications.

2007 ◽  
Vol 293 (1) ◽  
pp. F236-F244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling Yu ◽  
Douglas C. Eaton ◽  
My N. Helms

To better understand how renal Na+ reabsorption is altered by heavy metal poisoning, we examined the effects of several divalent heavy metal ions (Zn2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, Cd2+, and Hg2+) on the activity of single epithelial Na+ channels (ENaC) in a renal epithelial cell line (A6). None of the cations changed the single-channel conductance. However, ENaC activity [measured as the number of channels ( N) × open probability ( Po)] was decreased by Cd2+ and Hg2+ and increased by Cu2+, Zn2+, and Ni2+ but was not changed by Pb2+. Of the cations that induced an increase in Na+ channel function, Zn2+ increased N, Ni2+ increased Po, and Cu2+ increased both. The cysteine modification reagent [2-(trimethylammonium)ethyl]methanethiosulfonate bromide also increased N, whereas diethylpyrocarbonate, which covalently modifies histidine residues, affected neither Po nor N. Cu2+ increased N and stimulated Po by reducing Na+ self-inhibition. Furthermore, we observed that ENaC activity is slightly voltage dependent and that the voltage dependence of ENaC is insensitive to extracellular Na+ concentration; however, apical application of Ni2+ or diethylpyrocarbonate reduced the channel voltage dependence. Thus the voltage sensor of Xenopus ENaC is different from that of typical voltage-gated channels, since voltage appears to be sensed by histidine residues in the extracellular loops of ENaC, rather than by charged amino acids in a transmembrane domain.


1995 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 641-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
M E O'Leary ◽  
L Q Chen ◽  
R G Kallen ◽  
R Horn

A pair of tyrosine residues, located on the cytoplasmic linker between the third and fourth domains of human heart sodium channels, plays a critical role in the kinetics and voltage dependence of inactivation. Substitution of these residues by glutamine (Y1494Y1495/QQ), but not phenylalanine, nearly eliminates the voltage dependence of the inactivation time constant measured from the decay of macroscopic current after a depolarization. The voltage dependence of steady state inactivation and recovery from inactivation is also decreased in YY/QQ channels. A characteristic feature of the coupling between activation and inactivation in sodium channels is a delay in development of inactivation after a depolarization. Such a delay is seen in wild-type but is abbreviated in YY/QQ channels at -30 mV. The macroscopic kinetics of activation are faster and less voltage dependent in the mutant at voltages more negative than -20 mV. Deactivation kinetics, by contrast, are not significantly different between mutant and wild-type channels at voltages more negative than -70 mV. Single-channel measurements show that the latencies for a channel to open after a depolarization are shorter and less voltage dependent in YY/QQ than in wild-type channels; however the peak open probability is not significantly affected in YY/QQ channels. These data demonstrate that rate constants involved in both activation and inactivation are altered in YY/QQ channels. These tyrosines are required for a normal coupling between activation voltage sensors and the inactivation gate. This coupling insures that the macroscopic inactivation rate is slow at negative voltages and accelerated at more positive voltages. Disruption of the coupling in YY/QQ alters the microscopic rates of both activation and inactivation.


Antioxidants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1127
Author(s):  
Yan Li ◽  
Jin Bai ◽  
Yi-hua Yang ◽  
Naoto Hoshi ◽  
Dong-bao Chen

Opening of large conductance calcium-activated and voltage-dependent potassium (BKCa) channels hyperpolarizes plasma membranes of smooth muscle (SM) to cause vasodilation, underling a key mechanism for mediating uterine artery (UA) dilation in pregnancy. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been recently identified as a new UA vasodilator, yet the mechanism underlying H2S-induced UA dilation is unknown. Here, we tested whether H2S activated BKCa channels in human UA smooth muscle cells (hUASMC) to mediate UA relaxation. Multiple BKCa subunits were found in human UA in vitro and hUASMC in vitro, and high β1 and γ1 proteins were localized in SM cells in human UA. Baseline outward currents, recorded by whole-cell and single-channel patch clamps, were significantly inhibited by specific BKCa blockers iberiotoxin (IBTX) or tetraethylammonium, showing specific BKCa activity in hUASMC. H2S dose (NaHS, 1–1000 µM)-dependently potentiated BKCa currents and open probability. Co-incubation with a Ca2+ blocker nifedipine (5 µM) or a chelator (ethylene glycol-bis (β-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid (EGTA), 5 mM) did not alter H2S-potentiated BKCa currents and open probability. NaHS also dose-dependently relaxed phenylephrine pre-constricted freshly prepared human UA rings, which was inhibited by IBTX. Thus, H2S stimulated human UA relaxation at least partially via activating SM BKCa channels independent of extracellular Ca2+.


1999 ◽  
Vol 113 (5) ◽  
pp. 679-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Hivert ◽  
Siro Luvisetto ◽  
Anacleto Navangione ◽  
Angelita Tottene ◽  
Daniela Pietrobon

Single channel patch-clamp recordings show that embryonic rat spinal motoneurons express anomalous L-type calcium channels, which reopen upon repolarization to resting potentials, displaying both short and long reopenings. The probability of reopening increases with increasing voltage of the preceding depolarization without any apparent correlation with inactivation during the depolarization. The probability of long with respect to short reopenings increases with increasing length of the depolarization, with little change in the total number of reopenings and in their delay. With less negative repolarization voltages, the delay increases, while the mean duration of both short and long reopenings decreases, remaining longer than that of the openings during the preceding depolarization. Open times decrease with increasing voltage in the range −60 to +40 mV. Closed times tend to increase at V > 20 mV. The open probability is low at all voltages and has an anomalous bell-shaped voltage dependence. We provide evidence that short and long reopenings of anomalous L-type channels correspond to two gating modes, whose relative probability depends on voltage. Positive voltages favor both the transition from a short-opening to a long-opening mode and the occupancy of a closed state outside the activation pathway within each mode from which the channel reopens upon repolarization. The voltage dependence of the probability of reopenings reflects the voltage dependence of the occupancy of these closed states, while the relative probability of long with respect to short reopenings reflects the voltage dependence of the equilibrium between modes. The anomalous gating persists after patch excision, and therefore our data rule out voltage-dependent block by diffusible ions as the basis for the anomalous gating and imply that a diffusible cytosolic factor is not necessary for voltage-dependent potentiation of anomalous L-type channels.


1996 ◽  
Vol 270 (1) ◽  
pp. C276-C285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. H. Chen ◽  
R. L. DeHaan

The voltage dependence of junctional conductance (Gj) and the unitary channel behavior of junctions in most pairs of 3-day, 7-day, and 18-day embryonic chick heart cells are symmetrical, i.e., they are independent of the direction of polarization of junctional potential (Vj). With either cell depolarized relative to its neighbor, unitary channel events have a maximal unit conductance (yj) near 240 pS and five substates at nearly equal 40-pS increments down to near 40 pS (6, 9). Using the dual patch-clamp technique, we demonstrate here that, in a fraction of such cell pairs, Vj-dependent channel kinetics are asymmetric. Depolarization of one cell causes a larger and faster voltage-dependent decline in Gj than the same depolarization of the other cell. In a typical asymmetric preparation, depolarization of the strongly Vj-dependent side caused an immediate series of 47 +/- 16 pS closing steps in single-channel current (ij), followed by virtual cessation of channel activity. After depolarization of the less Vj-sensitive side, channel activity (56 +/- 13 pS) continues for many seconds. The large-conductance states (160-240 pS) observed in the electrically symmetric junctions were absent from the asymmetric preparations. In these cell pairs, connexin (Cx) 42, Cx43, and Cx45 could be immunolocalized at the junctional surfaces. We postulate that the asymmetry of voltage dependence in some cell pairs results from a preponderance of heterochannels formed from these different connexins. The frequency of asymmetric pairs obtained from 3-day, 7-day, and 18-day embryonic hearts was 50% (4/8), 24% (6/25), and 12.5% (1/8), suggesting that the fraction of heterochannels in the junctions decreases with cardiac development.


2000 ◽  
Vol 116 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad S. Rothberg ◽  
Karl L. Magleby

The voltage- and Ca2+-dependent gating mechanism of large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (BK) channels from cultured rat skeletal muscle was studied using single-channel analysis. Channel open probability (Po) increased with depolarization, as determined by limiting slope measurements (11 mV per e-fold change in Po; effective gating charge, qeff, of 2.3 ± 0.6 eo). Estimates of qeff were little changed for intracellular Ca2+ (Ca2+i) ranging from 0.0003 to 1,024 μM. Increasing Ca2+i from 0.03 to 1,024 μM shifted the voltage for half maximal activation (V1/2) 175 mV in the hyperpolarizing direction. V1/2 was independent of Ca2+i for Ca2+i ≤ 0.03 μM, indicating that the channel can be activated in the absence of Ca2+i. Open and closed dwell-time distributions for data obtained at different Ca2+i and voltage, but at the same Po, were different, indicating that the major action of voltage is not through concentrating Ca2+ at the binding sites. The voltage dependence of Po arose from a decrease in the mean closing rate with depolarization (qeff = −0.5 eo) and an increase in the mean opening rate (qeff = 1.8 eo), consistent with voltage-dependent steps in both the activation and deactivation pathways. A 50-state two-tiered model with separate voltage- and Ca2+-dependent steps was consistent with the major features of the voltage and Ca2+ dependence of the single-channel kinetics over wide ranges of Ca2+i (∼0 through 1,024 μM), voltage (+80 to −80 mV), and Po (10−4 to 0.96). In the model, the voltage dependence of the gating arises mainly from voltage-dependent transitions between closed (C-C) and open (O-O) states, with less voltage dependence for transitions between open and closed states (C-O), and with no voltage dependence for Ca2+-binding and unbinding. The two-tiered model can serve as a working hypothesis for the Ca2+- and voltage-dependent gating of the BK channel.


2001 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
pp. 2335-2349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Mi Lee ◽  
Young Sun Park ◽  
Wonjae Kim ◽  
Chul-Seung Park

The complementary DNA encoding gustatory cyclic nucleotide–gated ion channel (or gustCNG channel) cloned from rat tongue epithelial tissue was expressed in Xenopus oocytes, and its electrophysiological characteristics were investigated using tight-seal patch-clamp recordings of single and macroscopic channel currents. Both cGMP and cAMP directly activated gustCNG channels but with markedly different affinities. No desensitization or inactivation of gustCNG channel currents was observed even in the prolonged application of the cyclic nucleotides. Single-channel conductance of gustCNG channel was estimated as 28 pS in 130 mM of symmetric Na+. Single-channel current recordings revealed fast open-close transitions and longer lasting closure states. The distribution of both open and closed events could be well fitted with two exponential components and intracellular cGMP increased the open probability ( P o) of gustCNG channels mainly by increasing the slower opening rate. Under bi-ionic conditions, the selectivity order of gustCNG channel among divalent cations was determined as Na+ ∼ K+ > Rb+ > Li+ > Cs+ with the permeability ratio of 1:0.95:0.74:0.63:0.49. Magnesium ion blocked Na+ currents through gustCNG channels from both intracellular and extracellular sides in voltage-dependent manners. The inhibition constants ( K is) of intracellular Mg2+ were determined as 360 ± 40 μM at 70 mV and 8.2 ± 1.5 mM at −70 mV with zδ value of 1.04, while K is of extracellular Mg2+ were as 1.1 ± 0.3 mM at 70 mV and 20.0 ± 0.1 μM at −70 mV with zδ of 0.94. Although 100 μM l- cis-diltiazem blocked significant portions of outward Na+ currents through both bovine rod and rat olfactory CNG channels, the gustCNG channel currents were minimally affected by the same concentration of the drug.


2006 ◽  
Vol 127 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Thompson ◽  
Ted Begenisich

The complexity of mammalian physiology requires a diverse array of ion channel proteins. This diversity extends even to a single family of channels. For example, the family of Ca2+-activated K channels contains three structural subfamilies characterized by small, intermediate, and large single channel conductances. Many cells and tissues, including neurons, vascular smooth muscle, endothelial cells, macrophages, and salivary glands express more than a single class of these channels, raising questions about their specific physiological roles. We demonstrate here a novel interaction between two types of Ca2+-activated K channels: maxi-K channels, encoded by the KCa1.1 gene, and IK1 channels (KCa3.1). In both native parotid acinar cells and in a heterologous expression system, activation of IK1 channels inhibits maxi-K activity. This interaction was independent of the mode of activation of the IK1 channels: direct application of Ca2+, muscarinic receptor stimulation, or by direct chemical activation of the IK1 channels. The IK1-induced inhibition of maxi-K activity occurred in small, cell-free membrane patches and was due to a reduction in the maxi-K channel open probability and not to a change in the single channel current level. These data suggest that IK1 channels inhibit maxi-K channel activity via a direct, membrane-delimited interaction between the channel proteins. A quantitative analysis indicates that each maxi-K channel may be surrounded by four IK1 channels and will be inhibited if any one of these IK1 channels opens. This novel, regulated inhibition of maxi-K channels by activation of IK1 adds to the complexity of the properties of these Ca2+-activated K channels and likely contributes to the diversity of their functional roles.


2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 1151-1159 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Pezier ◽  
Y. V. Bobkov ◽  
B. W. Ache

The mechanism(s) of olfactory transduction in invertebrates remains to be fully understood. In lobster olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs), a nonselective sodium-gated cation (SGC) channel, a presumptive transient receptor potential (TRP)C channel homolog, plays a crucial role in olfactory transduction, at least in part by amplifying the primary transduction current. To better determine the functional role of the channel, it is important to selectively block the channel independently of other elements of the transduction cascade, causing us to search for specific pharmacological blockers of the SGC channel. Given evidence that the Na+/Ca2+ exchange inhibitor, KB-R7943, blocks mammalian TRPC channels, we studied this probe as a potential blocker of the lobster SGC channel. KB-R7943 reversibly blocked the SGC current in both inside- and outside-out patch recordings in a dose- and voltage-dependent manner. KB-R7943 decreased the channel open probability without changing single channel amplitude. KB-R7943 also reversibly and in a dose-dependent manner inhibited both the odorant-evoked discharge of lobster ORNs and the odorant-evoked whole cell current. Our findings strongly imply that KB-R7943 potently blocks the lobster SGC channel and likely does so directly and not through its ability to block the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger.


1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 2404-2412 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Legendre ◽  
H. Korn

1. The kinetics and mechanisms underlying the voltage dependence of inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) recorded in the Mauthner cell (M cell) were investigated in the isolated medulla of 52-h-old zebrafish larvae, with the use of whole cell and outside-out patch-clamp recordings. 2. Spontaneous miniature IPSCs (mIPSCs) were recorded in the presence of 10(-6) M tetrodotoxin (TTX), 10 mM MgCl2, and 0.1 mM [CaCl2]o. Depolarizing the cell from -50 to +50 mV did not evoke any significant change in the distribution of mIPSC amplitudes, whereas synaptic currents were prolonged at positive voltages. The average decay time constant was increased twofold at +50 mV. 3. The voltage dependence of the kinetics of glycine-activated channels was first investigated during whole cell recording experiments. Currents evoked by voltage steps in the presence of glycine (50 microM) were compared with those obtained without glycine. The increase in chloride conductance (gCl-) evoked by glycine was time and voltage dependent. Inactivation and reactivation of the chloride current were observed during voltage pulses from 0 to -50 mV and from -50 to 0 mV, respectively, and they occurred with similar time constants (2-3 s). During glycine application, voltage-ramp analysis revealed a shift in the reversal potential (ECl-) occurring at all [Cl-]i tested. 4. The basis of the voltage sensitivity of glycine-evoked gCl- was first analyzed by measuring the relative changes in the total open probability (NPo) of glycine-activated channels with voltage.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


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