scholarly journals State-dependent inhibition of BK channels by the opioid agonist loperamide

2021 ◽  
Vol 153 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre G. Vouga ◽  
Michael E. Rockman ◽  
Jiusheng Yan ◽  
Marlene A. Jacobson ◽  
Brad S. Rothberg

Large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (BK) channels control a range of physiological functions, and their dysfunction is linked to human disease. We have found that the widely used drug loperamide (LOP) can inhibit activity of BK channels composed of either α-subunits (BKα channels) or α-subunits plus the auxiliary γ1-subunit (BKα/γ1 channels), and here we analyze the molecular mechanism of LOP action. LOP applied at the cytosolic side of the membrane rapidly and reversibly inhibited BK current, an effect that appeared as a decay in voltage-activated BK currents. The apparent affinity for LOP decreased with hyperpolarization in a manner consistent with LOP behaving as an inhibitor of open, activated channels. Increasing LOP concentration reduced the half-maximal activation voltage, consistent with relative stabilization of the LOP-inhibited open state. Single-channel recordings revealed that LOP did not reduce unitary BK channel current, but instead decreased BK channel open probability and mean open times. LOP elicited use-dependent inhibition, in which trains of brief depolarizing steps lead to accumulated reduction of BK current, whereas single brief depolarizing steps do not. The principal effects of LOP on BK channel gating are described by a mechanism in which LOP acts as a state-dependent pore blocker. Our results suggest that therapeutic doses of LOP may act in part by inhibiting K+ efflux through intestinal BK channels.

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (25) ◽  
pp. 6991-6996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiusheng Yan ◽  
Qin Li ◽  
Richard W. Aldrich

Ion channels regulate ion flow by opening and closing their pore gates. K+ channels commonly possess two pore gates, one at the intracellular end for fast channel activation/deactivation and the other at the selectivity filter for slow C-type inactivation/recovery. The large-conductance calcium-activated potassium (BK) channel lacks a classic intracellular bundle-crossing activation gate and normally show no C-type inactivation. We hypothesized that the BK channel’s activation gate may spatially overlap or coexist with the C-type inactivation gate at or near the selectivity filter. We induced C-type inactivation in BK channels and studied the relationship between activation/deactivation and C-type inactivation/recovery. We observed prominent slow C-type inactivation/recovery in BK channels by an extreme low concentration of extracellular K+ together with a Y294E/K/Q/S or Y279F mutation whose equivalent in Shaker channels (T449E/K/D/Q/S or W434F) caused a greatly accelerated rate of C-type inactivation or constitutive C-inactivation. C-type inactivation in most K+ channels occurs upon sustained membrane depolarization or channel opening and then recovers during hyperpolarized membrane potentials or channel closure. However, we found that the BK channel C-type inactivation occurred during hyperpolarized membrane potentials or with decreased intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) and recovered with depolarized membrane potentials or elevated [Ca2+]i. Constitutively open mutation prevented BK channels from C-type inactivation. We concluded that BK channel C-type inactivation is closed state-dependent and that its extents and rates inversely correlate with channel-open probability. Because C-type inactivation can involve multiple conformational changes at the selectivity filter, we propose that the BK channel’s normal closing may represent an early conformational stage of C-type inactivation.


2000 ◽  
Vol 278 (6) ◽  
pp. H1883-H1890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna K. Brzezinska ◽  
Debebe Gebremedhin ◽  
William M. Chilian ◽  
Balaraman Kalyanaraman ◽  
Stephen J. Elliott

Peroxynitrite (ONOO−) is a contractile agonist of rat middle cerebral arteries. To determine the mechanism responsible for this component of ONOO−bioactivity, the present study examined the effect of ONOO− on ionic current and channel activity in rat cerebral arteries. Whole cell recordings of voltage-clamped cells were made under conditions designed to optimize K+ current. The effects of iberiotoxin, a selective inhibitor of large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (BK) channels, and ONOO− (10–100 μM) were determined. At a pipette potential of +50 mV, ONOO− inhibited 39% of iberiotoxin-sensitive current. ONOO− was selective for iberiotoxin-sensitive current, whereas decomposed ONOO− had no effect. In excised, inside-out membrane patches, channel activity was recorded using symmetrical K+solutions. Unitary currents were sensitive to increases in internal Ca2+ concentration, consistent with activity due to BK channels. Internal ONOO− dose dependently inhibited channel activity by decreasing open probability and mean open times. The inhibitory effect of ONOO− could be overcome by reduced glutathione. Glutathione, added after ONOO−, restored whole cell current amplitude to control levels and reverted single-channel gating to control behavior. The inhibitory effect of ONOO− on membrane K+ current is consistent with its contractile effects in isolated cerebral arteries and single myocytes. Taken together, our data suggest that ONOO− has the potential to alter cerebral vascular tone by inhibiting BK channel activity.


2009 ◽  
Vol 297 (1) ◽  
pp. C75-C85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingjie Tong ◽  
R. Keith Duncan

Large-conductance, Ca2+-activated, and voltage-gated potassium channels (BK, BKCa, or Maxi-K) play an important role in electrical tuning in nonmammalian vertebrate hair cells. Systematic changes in tuning frequency along the tonotopic axis largely result from variations in BK channel kinetics, but the molecular changes underpinning these functional variations remain unknown. Auxiliary β1 have been implicated in low-frequency tuning at the cochlear apex because these subunits dramatically slow channel kinetics. Tamoxifen (Tx), a (xeno)estrogen compound known to activate BK channels through the β-subunit, was used to test for the functional presence of β1. The hypotheses were that Tx would activate the majority of BK channels in hair cells from the cochlear apex due to the presence of β1 and that the level of activation would exhibit a tonotopic gradient following the expression profile of β1. Outside-out patches of BK channels were excised from tall hair cells along the apical half of the chicken basilar papilla. In low-density patches, single-channel conductance was reduced and the averaged open probability was unaffected by Tx. In high-density patches, the amplitude of ensemble-averaged BK current was inhibited, whereas half-activation potential and activation kinetics were unaffected by Tx. In both cases, no tonotopic Tx-dependent activation of channel activity was observed. Therefore, contrary to the hypotheses, electrophysiological assessment suggests that molecular mechanisms other than auxiliary β-subunits are involved in generating a tonotopic distribution of BK channel kinetics and electric tuning in chick basilar papilla.


2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (4) ◽  
pp. 1651-1659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid van Welie ◽  
Sascha du Lac

Large conductance K+ (BK) channels are a key determinant of neuronal excitability. Medial vestibular nucleus (MVN) neurons regulate eye movements to ensure image stabilization during head movement, and changes in their intrinsic excitability may play a critical role in plasticity of the vestibulo-ocular reflex. Plasticity of intrinsic excitability in MVN neurons is mediated by kinases, and BK channels influence excitability, but whether endogenous BK channels are directly modulated by kinases is unknown. Double somatic patch-clamp recordings from MVN neurons revealed large conductance potassium channel openings during spontaneous action potential firing. These channels displayed Ca2+ and voltage dependence in excised patches, identifying them as BK channels. Recording isolated single channel currents at physiological temperature revealed a novel kinase-mediated bidirectional control in the range of voltages over which BK channels are activated. Application of activated Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CAMKII) increased BK channel open probability by shifting the voltage activation range towards more hyperpolarized potentials. An opposite shift in BK channel open probability was revealed by inhibition of phosphatases and was occluded by blockade of protein kinase C (PKC), suggesting that active PKC associated with BK channel complexes in patches was responsible for this effect. Accordingly, direct activation of endogenous PKC by PMA induced a decrease in BK open probability. BK channel activity affects excitability in MVN neurons and bidirectional control of BK channels by CAMKII, and PKC suggests that cellular signaling cascades engaged during plasticity may dynamically control excitability by regulating BK channel open probability.


1999 ◽  
Vol 113 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Crina M. Nimigean ◽  
Karl L. Magleby

Coexpression of the β subunit (KV,Caβ) with the α subunit of mammalian large conductance Ca2+- activated K+ (BK) channels greatly increases the apparent Ca2+ sensitivity of the channel. Using single-channel analysis to investigate the mechanism for this increase, we found that the β subunit increased open probability (Po) by increasing burst duration 20–100-fold, while having little effect on the durations of the gaps (closed intervals) between bursts or on the numbers of detected open and closed states entered during gating. The effect of the β subunit was not equivalent to raising intracellular Ca2+ in the absence of the beta subunit, suggesting that the β subunit does not act by increasing all the Ca2+ binding rates proportionally. The β subunit also inhibited transitions to subconductance levels. It is the retention of the BK channel in the bursting states by the β subunit that increases the apparent Ca2+ sensitivity of the channel. In the presence of the β subunit, each burst of openings is greatly amplified in duration through increases in both the numbers of openings per burst and in the mean open times. Native BK channels from cultured rat skeletal muscle were found to have bursting kinetics similar to channels expressed from alpha subunits alone.


2016 ◽  
Vol 311 (6) ◽  
pp. F1253-F1259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiril L. Hristov ◽  
Shankar P. Parajuli ◽  
Aaron Provence ◽  
Georgi V. Petkov

In addition to improving sexual function, testosterone has been reported to have beneficial effects in ameliorating lower urinary tract symptoms by increasing bladder capacity and compliance, while decreasing bladder pressure. However, the cellular mechanisms by which testosterone regulates detrusor smooth muscle (DSM) excitability have not been elucidated. Here, we used amphotericin-B perforated whole cell patch-clamp and single channel recordings on inside-out excised membrane patches to investigate the regulatory role of testosterone in guinea pig DSM excitability. Testosterone (100 nM) significantly increased the depolarization-induced whole cell outward currents in DSM cells. The selective pharmacological inhibition of the large-conductance voltage- and Ca2+-activated K+ (BK) channels with paxilline (1 μM) completely abolished this stimulatory effect of testosterone, suggesting a mechanism involving BK channels. At a holding potential of −20 mV, DSM cells exhibited transient BK currents (TBKCs). Testosterone (100 nM) significantly increased TBKC activity in DSM cells. In current-clamp mode, testosterone (100 nM) significantly hyperpolarized the DSM cell resting membrane potential and increased spontaneous transient hyperpolarizations. Testosterone (100 nM) rapidly increased the single BK channel open probability in inside-out excised membrane patches from DSM cells, clearly suggesting a direct BK channel activation via a nongenomic mechanism. Live-cell Ca2+ imaging showed that testosterone (100 nM) caused a decrease in global intracellular Ca2+ concentration, consistent with testosterone-induced membrane hyperpolarization. In conclusion, the data provide compelling mechanistic evidence that under physiological conditions, testosterone at nanomolar concentrations directly activates BK channels in DSM cells, independent from genomic testosterone receptors, and thus regulates DSM excitability.


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.


1999 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad S. Rothberg ◽  
Karl L. Magleby

The Ca2+-dependent gating mechanism of large-conductance calcium-activated K+ (BK) channels from cultured rat skeletal muscle was examined from low (4 μM) to high (1,024 μM) intracellular concentrations of calcium (Ca2+i) using single-channel recording. Open probability (Po) increased with increasing Ca2+i (K0.5 11.2 ± 0.3 μM at +30 mV, Hill coefficient of 3.5 ± 0.3), reaching a maximum of ∼0.97 for Ca2+i ∼ 100 μM. Increasing Ca2+i further to 1,024 μM had little additional effect on either Po or the single-channel kinetics. The channels gated among at least three to four open and four to five closed states at high levels of Ca2+i (>100 μM), compared with three to four open and five to seven closed states at lower Ca2+i. The ability of kinetic schemes to account for the single-channel kinetics was examined with simultaneous maximum likelihood fitting of two-dimensional (2-D) dwell-time distributions obtained from low to high Ca2+i. Kinetic schemes drawn from the 10-state Monod-Wyman-Changeux model could not describe the dwell-time distributions from low to high Ca2+i. Kinetic schemes drawn from Eigen's general model for a ligand-activated tetrameric protein could approximate the dwell-time distributions but not the dependency (correlations) between adjacent intervals at high Ca2+i. However, models drawn from a general 50 state two-tiered scheme, in which there were 25 closed states on the upper tier and 25 open states on the lower tier, could approximate both the dwell-time distributions and the dependency from low to high Ca2+i. In the two-tiered model, the BK channel can open directly from each closed state, and a minimum of five open and five closed states are available for gating at any given Ca2+i. A model that assumed that the apparent Ca2+-binding steps can reach a maximum rate at high Ca2+i could also approximate the gating from low to high Ca2+i. The considered models can serve as working hypotheses for the gating of BK channels.


2006 ◽  
Vol 291 (4) ◽  
pp. C750-C756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian M. Hagen ◽  
Kenton M. Sanders

Large-conductance Ca2+-activated potassium (BK) channels are composed of pore-forming α-subunits and auxiliary β-subunits. The α-subunits are widely expressed in many cell types, whereas the β-subunits are more tissue specific and influence diverse aspects of channel function. In the current study, we identified the presence of the smooth muscle-specific β1-subunit in murine colonic tissue using Western blotting. The native β1-subunits migrated in SDS-PAGE as two molecular mass bands. Enzymatic removal of N-linked glycosylations from the β1-subunit resulted in a single band that migrated at a lower molecular mass than the native β1-subunit bands, suggesting that the native β1-subunit exists in either a core glycosylated or highly glycosylated form. We investigated the functional consequence of deglycosylating the β1-subunit during inside-out single-channel recordings. During inside-out single-channel recordings, with N-glycosidase F in the pipette solution, the open probability ( Po) and mean open time of BK channels increased in a time-dependent manner. Deglycosylation of BK channels did not affect the conductance but shifted the steady-state voltage of activation toward more positive potentials without affecting slope when Ca2+ concentration was <1 μM. Treatment of myocytes lacking the β1-subunits of the BK channel with N-glycosidase F had no effect. These data suggest that glycosylations on the β1-subunit in smooth muscle cells can modify the biophysical properties of BK channels.


2013 ◽  
Vol 141 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanyan Geng ◽  
Xiaoyu Wang ◽  
Karl L. Magleby

Large-conductance, voltage- and Ca2+-activated K+ (BK) channels display near linear current–voltage (I-V) plots for voltages between −100 and +100 mV, with an increasing sublinearity for more positive potentials. As is the case for many types of channels, BK channels are blocked at positive potentials by intracellular Ca2+ and Mg2+. This fast block progressively reduces single-channel conductance with increasing voltage, giving rise to a negative slope in the I-V plots beyond about +120 mV, depending on the concentration of the blockers. In contrast to these observations of pronounced differences in the magnitudes and shapes of I-V plots in the absence and presence of intracellular blockers, Schroeder and Hansen (2007. J. Gen. Physiol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1085/jgp.200709802) have reported identical I-V plots in the absence and presence of blockers for BK channels, with both plots having reduced conductance and negative slopes, as expected for blockers. Schroeder and Hansen included both Ca2+ and Mg2+ in the intracellular solution rather than a single blocker, and they also studied BK channels expressed from α plus β1 subunits, whereas most previous studies used only α subunits. Although it seems unlikely that these experimental differences would account for the differences in findings between previous studies and those of Schroeder and Hansen, we repeated the experiments using BK channels comprised of α plus β1 subunits with joint application of 2.5 mM Ca2+ plus 2.5 mM Mg2+, as Schroeder and Hansen did. In contrast to the findings of Schroeder and Hansen of identical I-V plots, we found marked differences in the single-channel I-V plots in the absence and presence of blockers. Consistent with previous studies, we found near linear I-V plots in the absence of blockers and greatly reduced currents and negative slopes in the presence of blockers. Hence, studies of conductance mechanisms for BK channels should exclude intracellular Ca2+/Mg2+, as they can reduce conductance and induce negative slopes.


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