scholarly journals A Novel Current Pathway Parallel to the Central Pore in a Mutant Voltage-gated Potassium Channel

2011 ◽  
Vol 286 (22) ◽  
pp. 20031-20042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Prütting ◽  
Stephan Grissmer
Keyword(s):  
Voltage Sensor ◽  
High Potassium ◽  
Α Subunit ◽  
Inward Current ◽  
Voltage Gated ◽  
Ion Conducting ◽  
Membrane Spanning ◽  
Voltage Sensing Domain ◽  
Current Pathway ◽  
A Current

Voltage-gated potassium channels are proteins composed of four subunits consisting of six membrane-spanning segments S1–S6, with S4 as the voltage sensor. The region between S5 and S6 forms the potassium-selective ion-conducting central α-pore. Recent studies showed that mutations in the voltage sensor of the Shaker channel could disclose another ion permeation pathway through the voltage-sensing domain (S1–S4) of the channel, the ω-pore. In our studies we used the voltage-gated hKv1.3 channel, and the insertion of a cysteine at position V388C (Shaker position 438) generated a current through the α-pore in high potassium outside and an inward current at hyperpolarizing potentials carried by different cations like Na+, Li+, Cs+, and NH4+. The observed inward current looked similar to the ω-current described for the R1C/S Shaker mutant channel and was not affected by some pore blockers like charybdotoxin and tetraethylammonium but was inhibited by a phenylalkylamine blocker (verapamil) that acts from the intracellular side. Therefore, we hypothesize that the hKv1.3_V388C mutation in the P-region generated a channel with two ion-conducting pathways. One, the α-pore allowing K+ flux in the presence of K+, and the second pathway, the σ-pore, functionally similar but physically distinct from the ω-pathway. The entry of this new pathway (σ-pore) is presumably located at the backside of Y395 (Shaker position 445), proceeds parallel to the α-pore in the S6–S6 interface gap, ending between S5 and S6 at the intracellular side of one α-subunit, and is blocked by verapamil.

scholarly journals KCNE3 acts by promoting voltage sensor activation in KCNQ1

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (52) ◽  
pp. E7286-E7292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rene Barro-Soria ◽  
Marta E. Perez ◽  
H. Peter Larsson
Keyword(s):  
Electrostatic Interaction ◽  
Voltage Dependence ◽  
Voltage Sensor ◽  
Α Subunit ◽  
Voltage Range ◽  
Voltage Gated ◽  
Gate Opening ◽  
Channel Gate ◽  
Sensor Activation ◽  
Voltage Sensing Domain

KCNE β-subunits assemble with and modulate the properties of voltage-gated K+ channels. In the colon, stomach, and kidney, KCNE3 coassembles with the α-subunit KCNQ1 to form K+ channels important for K+ and Cl− secretion that appear to be voltage-independent. How KCNE3 subunits turn voltage-gated KCNQ1 channels into apparent voltage-independent KCNQ1/KCNE3 channels is not completely understood. Different mechanisms have been proposed to explain the effect of KCNE3 on KCNQ1 channels. Here, we use voltage clamp fluorometry to determine how KCNE3 affects the voltage sensor S4 and the gate of KCNQ1. We find that S4 moves in KCNQ1/KCNE3 channels, and that inward S4 movement closes the channel gate. However, KCNE3 shifts the voltage dependence of S4 movement to extreme hyperpolarized potentials, such that in the physiological voltage range, the channel is constitutively conducting. By separating S4 movement and gate opening, either by a mutation or PIP2 depletion, we show that KCNE3 directly affects the S4 movement in KCNQ1. Two negatively charged residues of KCNE3 (D54 and D55) are found essential for the effect of KCNE3 on KCNQ1 channels, mainly exerting their effects by an electrostatic interaction with R228 in S4. Our results suggest that KCNE3 primarily affects the voltage-sensing domain and only indirectly affects the gate.

scholarly journals The isolated voltage sensing domain of the Shaker potassium channel forms a voltage-gated cation channel

eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Zhao ◽  
Rikard Blunck
Keyword(s):  
Transmembrane Helix ◽  
Voltage Sensing ◽  
Shaker Potassium Channel ◽  
Voltage Gated ◽  
Kv Channel ◽  
C Terminus ◽  
Ion Conducting ◽  
Voltage Gated Ion Channels ◽  
Voltage Sensing Domain ◽  
Pore Domain

Domains in macromolecular complexes are often considered structurally and functionally conserved while energetically coupled to each other. In the modular voltage-gated ion channels the central ion-conducting pore is surrounded by four voltage sensing domains (VSDs). Here, the energetic coupling is mediated by interactions between the S4-S5 linker, covalently linking the domains, and the proximal C-terminus. In order to characterize the intrinsic gating of the voltage sensing domain in the absence of the pore domain, the Shaker Kv channel was truncated after the fourth transmembrane helix S4 (Shaker-iVSD). Shaker-iVSD showed significantly altered gating kinetics and formed a cation-selective ion channel with a strong preference for protons. Ion conduction in Shaker-iVSD developed despite identical primary sequence, indicating an allosteric influence of the pore domain. Shaker-iVSD also displays pronounced 'relaxation'. Closing of the pore correlates with entry into relaxation suggesting that the two processes are energetically related.

scholarly journals Biaryl sulfonamide motifs up- or down-regulate ion channel activity by activating voltage sensors

2018 ◽  
Vol 150 (8) ◽  
pp. 1215-1230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara I. Liin ◽  
Per-Eric Lund ◽  
Johan E. Larsson ◽  
Johan Brask ◽  
Björn Wallner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Channels ◽  
Action Potential ◽  
Ion Channel ◽  
Potassium Channel ◽  
Voltage Sensor ◽  
Pharmaceutical Drugs ◽  
Voltage Gated ◽  
Channel Opening ◽  
Ion Conducting ◽  
Voltage Gated Ion Channels

Voltage-gated ion channels are key molecules for the generation of cellular electrical excitability. Many pharmaceutical drugs target these channels by blocking their ion-conducting pore, but in many cases, channel-opening compounds would be more beneficial. Here, to search for new channel-opening compounds, we screen 18,000 compounds with high-throughput patch-clamp technology and find several potassium-channel openers that share a distinct biaryl-sulfonamide motif. Our data suggest that the negatively charged variants of these compounds bind to the top of the voltage-sensor domain, between transmembrane segments 3 and 4, to open the channel. Although we show here that biaryl-sulfonamide compounds open a potassium channel, they have also been reported to block sodium and calcium channels. However, because they inactivate voltage-gated sodium channels by promoting activation of one voltage sensor, we suggest that, despite different effects on the channel gates, the biaryl-sulfonamide motif is a general ion-channel activator motif. Because these compounds block action potential–generating sodium and calcium channels and open an action potential–dampening potassium channel, they should have a high propensity to reduce excitability. This opens up the possibility to build new excitability-reducing pharmaceutical drugs from the biaryl-sulfonamide scaffold.

Inhibition of transient potassium current in cultured and acutely dissociated mouse hippocampal neurons by GABAA receptor activation

1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 816-824
Author(s):  
R. L. Wu ◽  
M. E. Barish
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Brain ◽  
Hippocampal Neurons ◽  
Potassium Current ◽  
Receptor Activation ◽  
Gabab Receptors ◽  
Cell Swelling ◽  
Cultured Neurons ◽  
Embryonic Mouse ◽  
Voltage Gated ◽  
A Current

1. The regulation of A-current, one of several transient voltage-gated potassium currents, was studied using whole cell gigaohm seal voltage-clamp techniques on hippocampal pyramidal neurons that were either acutely dissociated from postnatal mouse brain or isolated from embryonic mouse brain and grown in dissociated culture. These neurons also express gamma-aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA) receptors, the activation of which can, under some circumstances, depolarize immature neurons and the dendrites of more mature neurons. 2. Application of GABA (50 microM) reduced the amplitude of A-current when potassium current amplitude was measured during a period of slow and incomplete desensitization of IGABA. A-current was reduced to 67 +/- 9% of control (mean +/- SD, n - 14) in acutely dissociated neurons, and to 64 +/- 11% of control (n = 15) in cultured neurons. Similar A-current reductions were seen in large outside-out membrane patches pulled from somata of cultured neurons, an observation suggesting that imperfect control of membrane voltage was not responsible for A-current inhibition. 3. A-current inhibition exhibited the sensitivity expected of a GABAA-sensitive process. It was mimicked by muscimol and blocked by bicuculline, picrotoxin, and reduction of [Cl-] in the external solution. Baclophen and phaclophen, effective as agonist and antagonist on GABAB receptors, did not affect A-currents or their inhibition. Reduction in extracellular osmolarity (to increase cell swelling as might occur with Cl- entry), or removal of external HCO3- (which might flow inward through GABAA channels and cause local external acidification), did not affect A-current or its inhibition. The mechanisms of inhibition is not clear at present. 4. We suggest that reduced A-current may favor GABA-induced depolarization and consequent activation of voltage-gated calcium channels.

scholarly journals Identification of a translocated gating charge in a voltage-dependent channel. Colicin E1 channels in planar phospholipid bilayer membranes.

1991 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
C K Abrams ◽  
K S Jakes ◽  
A Finkelstein ◽  
S L Slatin
Keyword(s):  
Voltage Dependence ◽  
Ion Selectivity ◽  
Lipid Vesicles ◽  
Voltage Gating ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Phospholipid Bilayer ◽  
Voltage Gated ◽  
Colicin E1 ◽  
Gating Charge ◽  
Ion Conducting

The availability of primary sequences for ion-conducting channels permits the development of testable models for mechanisms of voltage gating. Previous work on planar phospholipid bilayers and lipid vesicles indicates that voltage gating of colicin E1 channels involves translocation of peptide segments of the molecule into and across the membrane. Here we identify histidine residue 440 as a gating charge associated with this translocation. Using site-directed mutagenesis to convert the positively charged His440 to a neutral cysteine, we find that the voltage dependence for turn-off of channels formed by this mutant at position 440 is less steep than that for wild-type channels; the magnitude of the change in voltage dependence is consistent with residue 440 moving from the trans to the cis side of the membrane in association with channel closure. The effect of trans pH changes on the ion selectivity of channels formed by the carboxymethylated derivative of the cysteine 440 mutant independently establishes that in the open channel state, residue 440 lies on the trans side of the membrane. On the basis of these results, we propose that the voltage-gated opening of colicin E1 channels is accompanied by the insertion into the bilayer of a helical hairpin loop extending from residue 420 to residue 459, and that voltage-gated closing is associated with the extrusion of this loop from the interior of the bilayer back to the cis side.

Voltage-Dependent Properties of Dendrites That Eliminate Location-Dependent Variability of Synaptic Input

1999 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 535-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik P. Cook ◽  
Daniel Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Synaptic Input ◽  
Outward Current ◽  
Compartment Model ◽  
Inward Current ◽  
Voltage Gated ◽  
Cable Properties ◽  
Dendritic Membrane ◽  
Voltage Dependent ◽  
Dendritic Location ◽  
Voltage Gated Channels

Voltage-dependent properties of dendrites that eliminate location-dependent variability of synaptic input. We examined the hypothesis that voltage-dependent properties of dendrites allow for the accurate transfer of synaptic information to the soma independent of synapse location. This hypothesis is motivated by experimental evidence that dendrites contain a complex array of voltage-gated channels. How these channels affect synaptic integration is unknown. One hypothesized role for dendritic voltage-gated channels is to counteract passive cable properties, rendering all synapses electrotonically equidistant from the soma. With dendrites modeled as passive cables, the effect a synapse exerts at the soma depends on dendritic location (referred to as location-dependent variability of the synaptic input). In this theoretical study we used a simplified three-compartment model of a neuron to determine the dendritic voltage-dependent properties required for accurate transfer of synaptic information to the soma independent of synapse location. A dendrite that eliminates location-dependent variability requires three components: 1) a steady-state, voltage-dependent inward current that together with the passive leak current provides a net outward current and a zero slope conductance at depolarized potentials, 2) a fast, transient, inward current that compensates for dendritic membrane capacitance, and 3) both αamino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid– and N-methyl-d-aspartate–like synaptic conductances that together permit synapses to behave as ideal current sources. These components are consistent with the known properties of dendrites. In addition, these results indicate that a dendrite designed to eliminate location-dependent variability also actively back-propagates somatic action potentials.

scholarly journals KCNE1 and KCNE3 modulate KCNQ1 channels by affecting different gating transitions

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (35) ◽  
pp. E7367-E7376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rene Barro-Soria ◽  
Rosamary Ramentol ◽  
Sara I. Liin ◽  
Marta E. Perez ◽  
Robert S. Kass ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Action Potentials ◽  
Potassium Current ◽  
Voltage Sensor ◽  
Α Subunit ◽  
Voltage Range ◽  
Gate Opening ◽  
Cardiac Action ◽  
Repolarization Phase ◽  
Voltage Dependent ◽  
Salt Secretion

KCNE β-subunits assemble with and modulate the properties of voltage-gated K+ channels. In the heart, KCNE1 associates with the α-subunit KCNQ1 to generate the slowly activating, voltage-dependent potassium current (IKs) in the heart that controls the repolarization phase of cardiac action potentials. By contrast, in epithelial cells from the colon, stomach, and kidney, KCNE3 coassembles with KCNQ1 to form K+ channels that are voltage-independent K+ channels in the physiological voltage range and important for controlling water and salt secretion and absorption. How KCNE1 and KCNE3 subunits modify KCNQ1 channel gating so differently is largely unknown. Here, we use voltage clamp fluorometry to determine how KCNE1 and KCNE3 affect the voltage sensor and the gate of KCNQ1. By separating S4 movement and gate opening by mutations or phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate depletion, we show that KCNE1 affects both the S4 movement and the gate, whereas KCNE3 affects the S4 movement and only affects the gate in KCNQ1 if an intact S4-to-gate coupling is present. Further, we show that a triple mutation in the middle of the transmembrane (TM) segment of KCNE3 introduces KCNE1-like effects on the second S4 movement and the gate. In addition, we show that differences in two residues at the external end of the KCNE TM segments underlie differences in the effects of the different KCNEs on the first S4 movement and the voltage sensor-to-gate coupling.

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