scholarly journals Acetylcholine receptor: channel-opening kinetics evaluated by rapid chemical kinetic and single-channel current measurements

1987 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 873-883 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.B. Udgaonkar ◽  
G.P. Hess
Keyword(s):  
Acetylcholine Receptor ◽  
Single Channel ◽  
Chemical Kinetic ◽  
Channel Current ◽  
Single Channel Current ◽  
Channel Opening ◽  
Acetylcholine Receptor Channel ◽  
Receptor Channel

scholarly journals Mechanisms of Barbiturate Inhibition of Acetylcholine Receptor Channels

1997 ◽  
Vol 109 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. Dilger ◽  
Rebecca Boguslavsky ◽  
Martin Barann ◽  
Tamir Katz ◽  
Ana Maria Vidal
Keyword(s):  
Binding Site ◽  
Acetylcholine Receptor ◽  
Single Channel ◽  
Inhibitory Effects ◽  
Channel Current ◽  
State Dependent ◽  
Rapid Perfusion ◽  
Kinetics Of ◽  
Kinetics Of Inhibition ◽  
Acetylcholine Receptor Channel

We used patch clamp techniques to study the inhibitory effects of pentobarbital and barbital on nicotinic acetylcholine receptor channels from BC3H-1 cells. Single channel recording from outside-out patches reveals that both drugs cause acetylcholine-activated channel events to occur in bursts. The mean duration of gaps within bursts is 2 ms for 0.1 mM pentobarbital and 0.05 ms for 1 mM barbital. In addition, 1 mM barbital reduces the apparent single channel current by 15%. Both barbiturates decrease the duration of openings within a burst but have only a small effect on the burst duration. Macroscopic currents were activated by rapid perfusion of 300 μM acetylcholine to outside-out patches. The concentration dependence of peak current inhibition was fit with a Hill function; for pentobarbital, Ki = 32 μM, n = 1.09; for barbital, Ki = 1900 μM, n = 1.24. Inhibition is voltage independent. The kinetics of inhibition by pentobarbital are at least 30 times faster than inhibition by barbital (3 ms vs. <0.1 ms at the Ki). Pentobarbital binds ≥10-fold more tightly to open channels than to closed channels; we could not determine whether the binding of barbital is state dependent. Experiments performed with both barbiturates reveal that they do not compete for a single binding site on the acetylcholine receptor channel protein, but the binding of one barbiturate destabilizes the binding of the other. These results support a kinetic model in which barbiturates bind to both open and closed states of the AChR and block the flow of ions through the channel. An additional, lower-affinity binding site for pentobarbital may explain the effects seen at >100 μM pentobarbital.

scholarly journals The Role of Loop 5 in Acetylcholine Receptor Channel Gating

2003 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 521-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudha Chakrapani ◽  
Timothy D. Bailey ◽  
Anthony Auerbach
Keyword(s):  
Binding Site ◽  
Acetylcholine Receptor ◽  
Single Channel ◽  
Channel Gating ◽  
Α Subunit ◽  
Acetylcholine Binding Protein ◽  
Relationship Analysis ◽  
Subunit Interface ◽  
Acetylcholine Receptor Channel ◽  
Receptor Channel

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor channel (AChR) gating is an organized sequence of molecular motions that couples a change in the affinity for ligands at the two transmitter binding sites with a change in the ionic conductance of the pore. Loop 5 (L5) is a nine-residue segment (mouse α-subunit 92–100) that links the β4 and β5 strands of the extracellular domain and that (in the α-subunit) contains binding segment A. Based on the structure of the acetylcholine binding protein, we speculate that in AChRs L5 projects from the transmitter binding site toward the membrane along a subunit interface. We used single-channel kinetics to quantify the effects of mutations to αD97 and other L5 residues with respect to agonist binding (to both open and closed AChRs), channel gating (for both unliganded and fully-liganded AChRs), and desensitization. Most αD97 mutations increase gating (up to 168-fold) but have little or no effect on ligand binding or desensitization. Rate-equilibrium free energy relationship analysis indicates that αD97 moves early in the gating reaction, in synchrony with the movement of the transmitter binding site (Φ = 0.93, which implies an open-like character at the transition state). αD97 mutations in the two α-subunits have unequal energetic consequences for gating, but their contributions are independent. We conclude that the key, underlying functional consequence of αD97 perturbations is to increase the unliganded gating equilibrium constant. L5 emerges as an important and early link in the AChR gating reaction which, in the absence of agonist, serves to increase the relative stability of the closed conformation of the protein.

Surfing the Conformational Wave of Acetylcholine Receptor Channel Gating

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (S2) ◽  
pp. 24-25
Author(s):  
Gisela Cymes ◽  
Claudio Grosman ◽  
Anthony Auerbach
Keyword(s):  
Acetylcholine Receptor ◽  
Rate Constant ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Single Channel ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Kinetic Measurements ◽  
Ion Conducting ◽  
Single Channel Currents ◽  
Acetylcholine Receptor Channel ◽  
Receptor Channel

The muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor channel (AChR) is a cylindrical allosteric membrane protein (∼120 x 60 Å Fig. 1) that adopts alternative quaternary conformations (“open” and “closed”) with different functional properties (ion-conducting and ion-impermeable, respectively). We have characterized, residue-by-residue, the dynamics of the conformational change associated with gating using the framework of linear free energy relationships (LFER). The sequence of molecular events that underlies the closed-to-open gating transition was inferred from kinetic measurements of the receptor at the single molecule level.Specific regions of the AChR were perturbed using site-directed mutagenesis, changes in the membrane potential, or different agonists. Single-channel currents were recorded from cell-attached patches (Fig. 2). For the gain-of-function mutations, choline was used as the agonist because of its low efficacy. The opening rate constant was determined at a saturating concentration of agonist (for choline, 20 mM) in order to isolate gating from binding steps. to avoid bias introduced by fast channel blockade, the closing rate constant was measured at a low concentration (for choline, 200 μM). The diliganded channel opening (β) and closing (α) rate constants were estimated using the QuB suite of kinetic analysis programs. in general, a plot of the log rate constant vs. log equilibrium constant was linear.

scholarly journals Loop C and the mechanism of acetylcholine receptor–channel gating

2013 ◽  
Vol 141 (4) ◽  
pp. 467-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prasad Purohit ◽  
Anthony Auerbach
Keyword(s):  
Binding Site ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Single Channel ◽  
Communication Link ◽  
Channel Opening ◽  
State Models ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Acetylcholine Receptor Channel ◽  
Global Transition ◽  
Receptor Channel

Agonist molecules at the two neuromuscular acetylcholine (ACh) receptor (AChR) transmitter-binding sites increase the probability of channel opening. In one hypothesis for AChR activation (“priming”), the capping of loop C at each binding site transfers energy independently to the distant gate over a discrete structural pathway. We used single-channel analyses to examine the experimental support for this proposal with regard to brief unliganded openings, the effects of loop-C modifications, the effects of mutations to residues either on or off the putative pathway, and state models for describing currents at low [ACh]. The results show that (a) diliganded and brief unliganded openings are generated by the same essential, global transition; (b) the radical manipulation of loop C does not prevent channel opening but impairs agonist binding; (c) both on- and off-pathway mutations alter gating by changing the relative stability of the open-channel conformation by local interactions rather than by perturbing a specific site–gate communication link; and (d) it is possible to estimate directly the rate constants for agonist dissociation from and association to both the low and high affinity forms of the AChR-binding site by using a cyclic kinetic model. We conclude that the mechanism of energy transfer between the binding sites and the gate remains an open question.

Effect of Prozac on whole cell ionic currents in lens and corneal epithelia

1995 ◽  
Vol 269 (1) ◽  
pp. C250-C256 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Rae ◽  
A. Rich ◽  
A. C. Zamudio ◽  
O. A. Candia
Keyword(s):  
Potassium Channels ◽  
Single Channel ◽  
Ionic Currents ◽  
Current Amplitude ◽  
Human Lens ◽  
Delayed Rectifier ◽  
Open Probability ◽  
Channel Current ◽  
Single Channel Current ◽  
Ionic Conductances

Prozac (fluoxetine), a compound used therapeutically in humans to combat depression, has substantial effects on ionic conductances in rabbit corneal epithelial cells and in cultured human lens epithelium. In corneal epithelium, it reduces the current due to the large-conductance potassium channels that dominate this preparation. Its effects seem largely to decrease the open probability while leaving the single-channel current amplitude unaltered. In cultured human epithelium, currents from calcium-activated potassium channels and inward rectifiers are unaffected by Prozac. Delayed-rectifier potassium currents are reduced by Prozac in a complicated way that involves both gating and single-channel current amplitude. Fast tetrodotoxin-blockable sodium currents are also decreased by Prozac in this preparation. For all of these ion conductance effects, Prozac concentrations of 10(-5) to 10(-4) M are required. Whereas these levels are 10- to 100-fold higher than the plasma levels achieved in therapeutic use in humans, they are comparable to or less than levels needed for many other blockers of the ionic conductances studied here.

Properties and distribution of single voltage-gated calcium channels in adult hippocampal neurons

1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Fisher ◽  
R. Gray ◽  
D. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Calcium Channels ◽  
Single Channel ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Voltage Gated ◽  
Channel Current ◽  
Single Channel Current ◽  
Voltage Gated Calcium Channels ◽  
Large Conductance Channel ◽  
Small Conductance

1. The properties of single voltage-gated calcium channels were investigated in acutely exposed CA3 and CA1 pyramidal neurons and granule cells of area dentata in the adult guinea pig hippocampal formation. 2. Guinea pig hippocampal slices were prepared in a conventional manner, then treated with proteolytic enzymes and gently shaken to expose the somata of the three cell types studied. Standard patch-clamp techniques were used to record current flow through calcium channels in cell-attached membrane patches with isotonic barium as the charge carrier. 3. Single-channel current amplitudes were measured at different membrane potentials. Single-channel current-voltage plots were constructed and single-channel slope conductances were found to fall into three classes. These were (approximately) 8, 14, and 25 pS, and were observed in all three cell types. 4. The three groups of channels differed from each other in voltage dependence of activation: from a holding potential of -80, the small-conductance channel began to activate at about -40 to -30 mV, the medium-conductance channel at about -20 mV, and the large-conductance channel at approximately 0 mV. 5. Ensemble averages of single-channel currents during voltage steps revealed differences in voltage-dependent inactivation. The small-conductance channel inactivated completely within approximately 50 ms during steps from -80 to -10 mV or more positive. Steps to less positive potentials resulted in less inactivation. The medium-conductance channel displayed variable inactivation during steps from -80 to 0 mV. Inactivation of this channel during a 160-ms step ranged from virtually zero to approximately 100%. The large-conductance channel displayed no significant inactivation during steps as long as 400 ms. 6. The large-conductance channel was strikingly affected by the dihydropyridine agonist Bay K8644 (0.5-2.0 microM), resulting in a high probability of channel opening, prolonged openings, and an apparent increase in the number of channels available for activation. The medium and small-conductance channels were not noticeably affected by the drug. 7. The large-conductance channel could be induced to open at very negative membrane potentials by holding the patch for several seconds at 20 or 30 mV and stepping to -30 or -40 mV. This process was enhanced by Bay K8644, resulting in prolonged openings at potentials as negative as -100 mV.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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