scholarly journals Cardiac sodium channels (hH1) are intrinsically more sensitive to block by lidocaine than are skeletal muscle (mu 1) channels.

1995 ◽  
Vol 106 (6) ◽  
pp. 1193-1209 ◽  
Author(s):  
H B Nuss ◽  
G F Tomaselli ◽  
E Marbán

When lidocaine is given systemically, cardiac Na channels are blocked preferentially over those in skeletal muscle and nerve. This apparent increased affinity is commonly assumed to arise solely from the fact that cardiac Na channels spend a large fraction of their time in the inactivated state, which exhibits a high affinity for local anesthetics. The oocyte expression system was used to compare systematically the sensitivities of skeletal (mu 1-beta 1) and cardiac (hH1-beta 1) Na channels to block by lidocaine, under conditions in which the only difference was the choice of alpha subunit. To check for differences in tonic block, Na currents were elicited after 3 min of exposure to various lidocaine concentrations at -100 mV, a potential at which both hH1-beta 1 and mu 1-beta 1 channels were fully reprimed. Surprisingly, hH1-beta 1 Na channels were threefold more sensitive to rested-state block by lidocaine (402 +/- 36 microM, n = 4-22) than were mu 1-beta 1 Na channels (1,168 +/- 34 microM, n = 7-19). In contrast, the inactivated state binding affinities determined at partially depolarized holding potentials (h infinity approximately 0.2) were similar (Kd = 16 +/- 1 microM, n = 3-9 for hH1-beta 1 and 12 +/- 2 microM, n = 4-11 for mu 1-beta 1). Lidocaine produced more use-dependent block of peak hH1-beta 1 Na current elicited by trains of short-(10 ms) or long- (1 s) duration step depolarizations (0.5 Hz, -20 mV) than of mu 1-beta 1 Na current. During exposure to lidocaine, hH1-beta 1 channels recover from inactivation at -100 mV after a prolonged delay (20 ms), while mu 1-beta 1 channels begin repriming immediately. The overall time course of recovery from inactivation in the presence of lidocaine is much slower in hH1-beta 1 than in mu 1-beta 1 channels. These unexpected findings suggest that structural differences in the alpha subunits impart intrinsically different lidocaine sensitivities to the two isoforms. The differences in steady state affinities and in repriming kinetics are both in the correct direction to help explain the increased potency of cardiac Na channel block by local anesthetics.

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hwa C. Lee ◽  
Manoj K. Patel ◽  
Dilawaar J. Mistry ◽  
Qingcai Wang ◽  
Sita Reddy ◽  
...  

DMPK is a serine/threonine kinase implicated in the human disease myotonic muscular dystrophy (DM). Skeletal muscle Na channels exhibit late reopenings in Dmpk-deficient mice and peak current density is reduced, implicating DMPK in regulation of membrane excitability. Since complete heart block and sudden cardiac death occur in the disease, we tested the hypothesis that cardiac Na channels also exhibit abnormal gating in Dmpk-deficient mice. We made whole cell and cell-attached patch clamp recordings of ventricular cardiomyocytes enzymatically isolated from wild-type, Dmpk+/−, and Dmpk−/− mice. Recordings from membrane patches containing one or a few Na channels revealed multiple Na channel reopenings occurring after the macroscopic Na current had subsided in both Dmpk+/− and Dmpk−/− muscle, but only rare reopenings in wild-type muscle (>3-fold difference, P < 0.05). This resulted in a plateau of non-inactivating Na current in Dmpk-deficient muscle. The magnitude of this plateau current was independent on the magnitude of the test potential from −40 to 0 mV and was also independent of gene dose. Macroscopic Na current density was similar in wild-type and Dmpk-deficient muscle, as was steady-state Na channel gating. Decay of macroscopic currents was slowed in Dmpk−/− muscle, but not in Dmpk+/− or wild-type muscle. Entry into, and recovery from, inactivation were similar at multiple test potentials in wild-type and Dmpk-deficient muscle. Resting membrane potential was depolarized, and action potential duration was significantly prolonged in Dmpk-deficient muscle. Thus in cardiac muscle, Dmpk deficiency results in multiple late reopenings of Na channels similar to those seen in Dmpk-deficient skeletal muscle. This is reflected in a plateau of non-inactivating macroscopic Na current and prolongation of cardiac action potentials.


1997 ◽  
Vol 272 (2) ◽  
pp. C592-C600 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Bendahhou ◽  
T. R. Cummins ◽  
W. S. Agnew

Voltage-gated rat skeletal muscle and cardiac Na+ channels are modulated by exogenous unsaturated fatty acids. Application of 1-10 microM arachidonic or oleic acids reversibly depressed Na+ channel conductance and shifted the inactivation curve to hyperpolarizing potentials. These effects were not prevented by inhibitors of lipoxygenase, cyclooxygenase, cytochrome P-450 epoxygenase, or protein kinase C. Neither palmitic acid nor methyl ester oleate had an effect on the inward Na+ current, suggesting that trivial variations in membrane fluidity are not responsible for the Na+ current depression or kinetic changes. Arachidonic acid altered fast Na+ inactivation without changing the slow inactivation kinetics. Moreover, skeletal muscle Na+ channel gating currents were markedly decreased by 2 microM arachidonic acid. Finally, nonstationary noise analysis indicated that both the number of channels and the open probability were slightly decreased without change in the single-channel conductance. These data suggest that unsaturated fatty acids such as arachidonic and oleic acids 1) specifically regulate voltage-gated Na+ channels and 2) interact directly with Na+ channels, perhaps at a fatty acid binding domain, by decreasing the total gating charge and altering fast-inactivation kinetics.


2000 ◽  
Vol 92 (6) ◽  
pp. 1667-1676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Olschewski ◽  
Michael E. Bräu ◽  
Gunter Hempelmann ◽  
Werner Vogel ◽  
Boris V. Safronov

Background Dorsal horn neurons of the spinal cord participate in neuronal pain transmission. During spinal and epidural anesthesia, dorsal horn neurons are exposed to local anesthetics and opioids. Droperidol is usually given with opioids to avoid nausea and vomiting. A recently developed method of "entire soma isolation" has made it possible to study directly the action of droperidol on different components of Na+ current in dorsal horn neurons. Methods Using a combination of the whole-cell patch-clamp recording from spinal cord slices and the entire soma isolation method, we studied the direct action of droperidol on two types of Na+ currents in dorsal horn neurons of young rats. Results The tetrodotoxin-sensitive Na+ current in isolated somata consisted of a fast inactivating (tauF, 0.5-2 ms; 80-90% of the total amplitude) and a slow inactivating (tauS, 6-20 ms; 10-20% of the total amplitude) component. Droperidol, at concentrations relevant for spinal and epidural anesthesia, selectively and reversibly suppressed the fast component with a half-maximum inhibiting concentration (IC50) of 8.3 microm. The slow inactivating component was much less sensitive to droperidol; the estimated IC50 value was 809 microm. Conclusions Droperidol selectively blocks fast Na+ channels, the fast and slow components of the Na+ current in dorsal horn neurons are carried through pharmacologically distinct types of Na+ channels, and the effects of droperidol differ from those of local anesthetics and tetrodotoxin, which equipotently suppress both components. Droperidol may be suggested as a pharmacologic tool for separation of different types of inactivating tetrodotoxin-sensitive Na+ channel.


1995 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
M F Sheets ◽  
D A Hanck

The gating charge and voltage dependence of the open state to the inactivated state (O--&gt;I) transition was measured for the voltage-dependent mammalian cardiac Na channel. Using the site 3 toxin, Anthopleurin-A (Ap-A), which selectively modifies the O--&gt;I transition (see Hanck, D. A., and M. F. Sheets. 1995. Journal of General Physiology. 106:601-616), we studied Na channel gating currents (Ig) in voltage-clamped single canine cardiac Purkinje cells at approximately 12 degrees C. Comparison of Ig recorded in response to step depolarizations before and after modification by Ap-A toxin showed that toxin-modified gating currents decayed faster and had decreased initial amplitudes. The predominate change in the charge-voltage (Q-V) relationship was a reduction in gating charge at positive potentials such that Qmax was reduced by 33%, and the difference between charge measured in Ap-A toxin and in control represented the gating charge associated with Na channels undergoing inactivation by O--&gt;I. By comparing the time course of channel activation (represented by the gating charge measured in Ap-A toxin) and gating charge associated with the O--&gt;I transition (difference between control and Ap-A charge), the influence of activation on the time course of inactivation could be accounted for and the inherent voltage dependence of the O--&gt;I transition determined. The O--&gt;I transition for cardiac Na channels had a valence of 0.75 e-. The total charge of the cardiac voltage-gated Na channel was estimated to be 5 e-. Because charge is concentrated near the opening transition for this isoform of the channel, the time constant of the O--&gt;I transition at 0 mV could also be estimated (0.53 ms, approximately 12 degrees C). Prediction of the mean channel open time-voltage relationship based upon the magnitude and valence of the O--&gt;C and O--&gt;I rate constants from INa and Ig data matched data previously reported from single Na channel studies in heart at the same temperature.


1979 ◽  
Vol 236 (5) ◽  
pp. H705-H719 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Honig

Neuronal cell bodies exist in arterioles of skeletal muscle and appear to initiate vasodilation during phasic contraction. The following findings indicate that intrinsic nerves rather than metabolites maintain vasodilation during sustained phasic contraction with free flow. 1) Under certain conditions maximal vasodilation can occur without detectable release of metabolites. 2) When metabolites are released during exercise, their concentrations in blood or tissue do not always determine the extent of vasodilation. 3) Vasodilation during sustained contraction can be partly blocked by local anesthetics. The extent of block is inversely proportional to the concentration of metabolites. Dose, time course of block, and other tests of specificity indicate that local anesthetics act on the intrinsic nerves rather than smooth or striated muscle. When contraction stops, neurogenic vasodilation decays rapidly (half time less than 1 min). Sustained vasodilation during recovery is therefore fully accounted for by metabolites. A hypothesis is suggested that integrates the roles of extrinsic nerves, intrinsic nerves, and metabolites in support of muscle contraction.


1989 ◽  
Vol 257 (1) ◽  
pp. H79-H84 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. A. Alpert ◽  
H. A. Fozzard ◽  
D. A. Hanck ◽  
J. C. Makielski

Lidocaine and its permanently charged analogue QX-314 block sodium current (INa) in nerve, and by this mechanism, lidocaine produces local anesthesia. When administered clinically, lidocaine prevents cardiac arrhythmias. Nerve and skeletal muscle are much more sensitive to local anesthetics when the drugs are applied inside the cell, indicating that the binding site for local anesthetics is located on the inside of those Na channels. Using a large suction pipette for voltage clamp and internal perfusion of single cardiac Purkinje cells, we demonstrate that a charged lidocaine analogue blocks INa not only when applied from the inside but also from the outside, unlike noncardiac tissue. This functional difference in heart predicts that a second local anesthetic binding site exists outside or near the outside of cardiac Na channels and emphasizes that the cardiac Na channel is different from that in nerve.


1993 ◽  
Vol 101 (5) ◽  
pp. 651-671 ◽  
Author(s):  
S C Dudley ◽  
C M Baumgarten

In TTX-sensitive nerve and skeletal muscle Na+ channels, selective modification of external carboxyl groups with trimethyloxonium (TMO) or water-soluble carbodiimide (WSC) prevents voltage-dependent Ca2+ block, reduces unitary conductance, and decreases guanidinium toxin affinity. In the case of TMO, it has been suggested that all three effects result from modification of a single carboxyl group, which causes a positive shift in the channel's surface potential. We studied the effect of these reagents on Ca2+ block of adult rabbit ventricular Na+ channels in cell-attached patches. In unmodified channels, unitary conductance (gamma Na) was 18.6 +/- 0.9 pS with 280 mM Na+ and 2 mM Ca2+ in the pipette and was reduced to 5.2 +/- 0.8 pS by 10 mM Ca2+. In contrast to TTX-sensitive Na+ channels, Ca2+ block of cardiac Na+ channels was not prevented by TMO; after TMO pretreatment, gamma Na was 6.1 +/- 1.0 pS in 10 mM Ca2+. Nevertheless, TMO altered cardiac Na+ channel properties. In 2 mM Ca2+, TMO-treated patches exhibited up to three discrete gamma Na levels: 15.3 +/- 1.7, 11.3 +/- 1.5, and 9.8 +/- 1.8 pS. Patch-to-patch variation in which levels were present and the absence of transitions between levels suggests that at least two sites were modified by TMO. An abbreviation of mean open time (MOT) accompanied each decrease in gamma Na. The effects on channel gating of elevating external Ca2+ differed from those of TMO pretreatment. Increasing pipette Ca2+ from 2 to 10 mM prolonged the MOT at potentials positive to approximately -35 mV by decreasing the open to inactivated (O--&gt;I) transition rate constant. On the other hand, even in 10 mM Ca2+ TMO accelerated the O--&gt;I transition rate constant without a change in its voltage dependence. Ensemble averages after TMO showed a shortening of the time to peak current and an acceleration of the rate of current decay. Channel modification with WSC resulted in analogous effects to those of TMO in failing to show relief from block by 10 mM Ca2+. Further, WSC caused a decrease in gamma Na and an abbreviation of MOT at all potentials tested. We conclude that a change in surface potential caused by a single carboxyl modification is inadequate to explain the effects of TMO and WSC in heart. Failure of TMO and WSC to prevent Ca2+ block of the cardiac Na+ channel is a new distinction among isoforms in the Na+ channel multigene family.


1990 ◽  
Vol 259 (4) ◽  
pp. C668-C674 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Wilkinson ◽  
D. C. Dawson

Current fluctuation analysis was used to investigate the properties of apical Na+ channels during muscarinic inhibition of active Na+ absorption. A reversible Na+ channel blocker, 6-chloro-3,5-diaminopyrazine-2-carboxamide (CDPC), was used to induce fluctuations in the short-circuit current (I(sc)). Power density spectra of the CDPC-induced fluctuations exhibited a clearly discernible Lorentzian component, characterized by a corner frequency that was linearly related to CDPC concentration between 20 and 100 microM. The on (k'on) and off (k(off)) rate coefficients for the CDPC blocking reaction were k'on = 11.1 +/- 0.8 rad.s-1.microM-1 and k(off) = 744 +/- 53 rad/s, and the microscopic inhibition constant was 67 microM (n = 11). CDPC blocking kinetics were not significantly different after inhibition of Isc by 5 microM serosal carbachol. Single-channel Na+ current (iNa) and the density of open and blocked Na+ channels (N(ob)) were estimated from the fluctuations induced by 40 microM CDPC. Under control conditions, iNa was 0.43 +/- 0.05 pA and N(ob) was 251 +/- 42 X 10(6)/cm2 (n = 10). After exposure to serosal carbachol (2-10 microM) for 60 min, Na+ current and N(ob) were reduced by approximately 50%, but iNa was not changed significantly. These results indicate that muscarinic inhibition of electrogenic Na+ absorption was associated with a reduction in the number of open Na+ channels in the apical membrane. They also suggest that this downregulation of transport involved a coordinated decrease in both apical and basolateral membrane conductances.


1986 ◽  
Vol 87 (6) ◽  
pp. 907-932 ◽  
Author(s):  
J H Caldwell ◽  
D T Campbell ◽  
K G Beam

The loose patch voltage clamp has been used to map Na current density along the length of snake and rat skeletal muscle fibers. Na currents have been recorded from (a) endplate membrane exposed by removal of the nerve terminal, (b) membrane near the endplate, (c) extrajunctional membrane far from both the endplate and the tendon, and (d) membrane near the tendon. Na current densities recorded directly on the endplate were extremely high, exceeding 400 mA/cm2 in some patches. The membrane adjacent to the endplate has a current density about fivefold lower than that of the endplate, but about fivefold higher than the membrane 100-200 micron from the endplate. Small local variations in Na current density are recorded in extrajunctional membrane. A sharp decrease in Na current density occurs over the last few hundred micrometers from the tendon. We tested the ability of tetrodotoxin to block Na current in regions close to and far from the endplate and found no evidence for toxin-resistant channels in either region. There was also no obvious difference in the kinetics of Na current in the two regions. On the basis of the Na current densities measured with the loose patch clamp, we conclude that Na channels are abundant in the endplate and near-endplate membrane and are sparse close to the tendon. The current density at the endplate is two to three orders of magnitude higher than at the tendon.


1992 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
G K Wang ◽  
S Y Wang

Batrachotoxin (BTX)-modified Na+ currents were characterized in GH3 cells with a reversed Na+ gradient under whole-cell voltage clamp conditions. BTX shifts the threshold of Na+ channel activation by approximately 40 mV in the hyperpolarizing direction and nearly eliminates the declining phase of Na+ currents at all voltages, suggesting that Na+ channel inactivation is removed. Paradoxically, the steady-state inactivation (h infinity) of BTX-modified Na+ channels as determined by a two-pulse protocol shows that inactivation is still present and occurs maximally near -70 mV. About 45% of BTX-modified Na+ channels are inactivated at this voltage. The development of inactivation follows a sum of two exponential functions with tau d(fast) = 10 ms and tau d(slow) = 125 ms at -70 mV. Recovery from inactivation can be achieved after hyperpolarizing the membrane to voltages more negative than -120 mV. The time course of recovery is best described by a sum of two exponentials with tau r(fast) = 6.0 ms and tau r(slow) = 240 ms at -170 mV. After reaching a minimum at -70 mV, the h infinity curve of BTX-modified Na+ channels turns upward to reach a constant plateau value of approximately 0.9 at voltages above 0 mV. Evidently, the inactivated, BTX-modified Na+ channels can be forced open at more positive potentials. The reopening kinetics of the inactivated channels follows a single exponential with a time constant of 160 ms at +50 mV. Both chloramine-T (at 0.5 mM) and alpha-scorpion toxin (at 200 nM) diminish the inactivation of BTX-modified Na+ channels. In contrast, benzocaine at 1 mM drastically enhances the inactivation of BTX-modified Na+ channels. The h infinity curve reaches minimum of less than 0.1 at -70 mV, indicating that benzocaine binds preferentially with inactivated, BTX-modified Na+ channels. Together, these results imply that BTX-modified Na+ channels are governed by an inactivation process.


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