Proton Modulation of α1β3δ GABAA Receptor Channel Gating and Desensitization

2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 1577-1585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua-Jun Feng ◽  
Robert L. Macdonald

αβγ GABAA receptor currents are phasic and desensitizing, whereas αβδ GABAA receptor currents are tonic and have no fast desensitization. αβγ receptors are subsynaptic and mediate phasic inhibition, whereas αβδ receptors are extra- or perisynaptic and mediate tonic inhibition. Given the different roles of these GABAA receptor isoforms and the fact that GABAA receptors are allosterically regulated by extracellular pH in a subunit-dependent manner, we compared the effects of changing pH on rat δ or γ2L subunit–containing GABAA receptor currents. Human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293T) were transfected with cDNAs encoding rat α1, β3, γ2L, or δ GABAA receptor subunits in several binary and ternary combinations, and whole cell and single channel patch-clamp recordings were obtained. Lowering pH substantially enhanced α1β3 receptor currents. This effect was significantly more pronounced for ternary α1β3δ receptors, whereas ternary α1β3γ2L receptors were relatively insensitive to lowered pH. Lowering pH did not affect the extent of desensitization of α1β3 and α1β3γ2L receptor currents, but significantly increased the extent of desensitization of α1β3δ receptor currents. Lowering pH prolonged deactivation of α1β3 and α1β3δ receptor currents and enhanced the “steady-state” currents of α1β3δ receptors evoked by long-duration (28 s) GABA applications. Lowering pH significantly increased mean open duration of α1β3δ steady-state single channel currents due to introduction of a longer-duration open state, suggesting that low pH enhances α1β3δ receptor steady-state currents by modifying GABAA receptor gating properties.

1991 ◽  
Vol 97 (6) ◽  
pp. 1279-1293 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Okabe ◽  
A Yatani ◽  
A M Brown

Arrival of agonist is generally thought to initiate the signal transduction process in G protein-receptor coupled systems. However, the muscarinic atrial K+ (K+[ACh]) channel opens spontaneously in the absence of applied agonist, giving a noisy appearance to the current records. We investigated the nature and origin of the noise by measuring single channel currents in cell-attached or excised, inside-out membrane patches. Guanosine triphosphate (GTP) produced identical single channel currents in a concentration- and Mg(2+)-dependent manner in the presence or absence of carbachol, but the requirements for GTP were greater in the absence of agonist. Hence the agonist-independent currents appeared to be produced by an endogenous G protein, Gk. This prediction was confirmed when an affinity-purified, sequence-specific Gi-3 alpha antibody or pertussis toxin (PTX) blocked the agonist-independent currents. Candidate endogenous agonists were ruled out by the lack of effect of their corresponding antagonists. Thus agonist-independent currents had the same nature as agonist-dependent K+[ACh] currents and seemed to originate in the same way. We have developed a hypothesis in which agonist-free, empty receptors prime Gk with GTP and Gk activates atrial K+ [ACh] channels producing basal currents or noise. Agonist-independent activation by G proteins of effectors including ion channels appears to be a common occurrence.


2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (6) ◽  
pp. C2239-C2258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia Mao ◽  
Yongping Chai ◽  
Yu-Fung Lin

ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels couple cellular metabolic status to changes in membrane electrical properties. Caffeine (1,2,7-trimethylxanthine) has been shown to inhibit several ion channels; however, how caffeine regulates KATP channels was not well understood. By performing single-channel recordings in the cell-attached configuration, we found that bath application of caffeine significantly enhanced the currents of Kir6.2/SUR1 channels, a neuronal/pancreatic KATP channel isoform, expressed in transfected human embryonic kidney (HEK)293 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Application of nonselective and selective phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors led to significant enhancement of Kir6.2/SUR1 channel currents. Moreover, the stimulatory action of caffeine was significantly attenuated by KT5823, a specific PKG inhibitor, and, to a weaker extent, by BAPTA/AM, a membrane-permeable Ca2+ chelator, but not by H-89, a selective PKA inhibitor. Furthermore, the stimulatory effect was completely abrogated when KT5823 and BAPTA/AM were co-applied with caffeine. In contrast, the activity of Kir6.2/SUR1 channels was decreased rather than increased by caffeine in cell-free inside-out patches, while tetrameric Kir6.2LRKR368/369/370/371AAAA channels were suppressed regardless of patch configurations. Caffeine also enhanced the single-channel currents of recombinant Kir6.2/SUR2B channels, a nonvascular smooth muscle KATP channel isoform, although the increase was smaller. Moreover, bidirectional effects of caffeine were reproduced on the KATP channel present in the Cambridge rat insulinoma G1 (CRI-G1) cell line. Taken together, our data suggest that caffeine exerts dual regulation on the function of KATP channels: an inhibitory regulation that acts directly on Kir6.2 or some closely associated regulatory protein(s), and a sulfonylurea receptor (SUR)-dependent stimulatory regulation that requires cGMP-PKG and intracellular Ca2+-dependent signaling.


1984 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
A L Blatz ◽  
K L Magleby

The conductance and selectivity of the Ca-activated K channel in cultured rat muscle was studied. Shifts in the reversal potential of single channel currents when various cations were substituted for Ki+ were used with the Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz equation to calculate relative permeabilities. The selectivity was Tl+ greater than K+ greater than Rb+ greater than NH4+, with permeability ratios of 1.2, 1.0, 0.67, and 0.11. Na+, Li+, and Cs+ were not measurably permeant, with permeabilities less than 0.05 that of K+. Currents with the various ions were typically less than expected on the basis of the permeability ratios, which suggests that the movement of an ion through the channel was not independent of the other ions present. For a fixed activity of Ko+ (77 mM), plots of single channel conductance vs. activity of Ki+ were described by a two-barrier model with a single saturable site. This observation, plus the finding that the permeability ratios of Rb+ and NH+4 to K+ did not change with ion concentration, is consistent with a channel that can contain a maximum of one ion at any time. The empirically determined dissociation constant for the single saturable site was 100 mM, and the maximum calculated conductance for symmetrical solutions of K+ was 640 pS. TEAi+ (tetraethylammonium ion) reduced single channel current amplitude in a voltage-dependent manner. This effect was accounted for by assuming voltage-dependent block by TEA+ (apparent dissociation constant of 60 mM at 0 mV) at a site located 26% of the distance across the membrane potential, starting at the inner side. TEAo+ was much more effective in reducing single channel currents, with an apparent dissociation constant of approximately 0.3 mM.


2012 ◽  
Vol 141 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snehal Jadey ◽  
Prasad Purohit ◽  
Anthony Auerbach

A primary target for nicotine is the acetylcholine receptor channel (AChR). Some of the ability of nicotine to activate differentially AChR subtypes has been traced to a transmitter-binding site amino acid that is glycine in lower affinity and lysine in higher affinity AChRs. We studied the effects of mutations of this residue (αG153) in neuromuscular AChRs activated by nicotine and eight other agonists including nornicotine and anabasine. All of the mutations increased the unliganded gating equilibrium constant. The affinity of the resting receptor (Kd) and the net binding energy from the agonist for gating (ΔGB) were estimated by cross-concentration fitting of single-channel currents. In all but one of the agonist/mutant combinations there was a moderate decrease in Kd and essentially no change in ΔGB. The exceptional case was nicotine plus lysine, which showed a large, >8,000-fold decrease in Kd but no change in ΔGB. The extraordinary specificity of this combination leads us to speculate that AChRs with a lysine at position αG153 may be exposed to a nicotine-like compound in vivo.


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