scholarly journals Electrophysiological properties of mouse and epitope-tagged human cardiac sodium channel Nav1.5 expressed in HEK293 cells

F1000Research ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Reinhard ◽  
Jean-Sébastien Rougier ◽  
Jakob Ogrodnik ◽  
Hugues Abriel

Background: The pore-forming subunit of the cardiac sodium channel, Nav1.5, has been previously found to be mutated in genetically determined arrhythmias. Nav1.5 associates with many proteins that regulate its function and cellular localisation. In order to identify more in situ Nav1.5 interacting proteins, genetically-modified mice with a high-affinity epitope in the sequence of Nav1.5 can be generated.Methods: In this short study, we (1) compared the biophysical properties of the sodium current (INa) generated by the mouse Nav1.5 (mNav1.5) and human Nav1.5 (hNav1.5) constructs that were expressed in HEK293 cells, and (2) investigated the possible alterations of the biophysical properties of the human Nav1.5 construct that was modified with specific epitopes.Results: The biophysical properties of mNav1.5 were similar to the human homolog. Addition of epitopes either up-stream of the N-terminus of hNav1.5 or in the extracellular loop between the S5 and S6 transmembrane segments of domain 1, significantly decreased the amount of INa and slightly altered its biophysical properties. Adding green fluorescent protein (GFP) to the N-terminus did not modify any of the measured biophysical properties of hNav1.5.Conclusions: These findings have to be taken into account when planning to generate genetically-modified mouse models that harbour specific epitopes in the gene encoding mNav1.5.

Circulation ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 118 (suppl_18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susmita Chakrabarti ◽  
Sandro Yong ◽  
Shin Yoo ◽  
Ling Wu ◽  
Qing Kenneth Wang

The cardiac sodium channel (Na v 1.5) plays a significant role in cardiac physiology and leads to cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death when mutated. Modulation of Na v 1.5 activity can also arise from changes to accessory subunits or proteins. Our laboratory has recently reported that MOG1, a small protein that is highly conserved from yeast to humans, is a co-factor of Na v 1.5. Increased MOG1 expression has been shown to increase Na v 1.5 current density. In adult mouse ventricular myocytes, these two proteins were found to be co-localized at the intercalated discs. Here, we further characterize the regulatory role of MOG1 using the RNA interference technique. Sodium current was recorded in voltage-clamp mode from a holding potential of −100 mV and activated to −20 mV. In 3-day old mouse neonatal ventricular cells transfected with siRNA against mouse MOG1 decreased sodium current densities (pA/pF) compared to control or scramble siRNA treated cells (−10.2±3.3, n=11 vs. −165±16, n=20 or −117.9±11.7, n=11). A similar reduction in sodium current was observed in mammalian expression system consisting of HEK293 cells stably expressing human Na v 1.5, by transfecting siRNAs against either human or mouse MOG1 (−41.7±8.3, n=7 or, −82.6±9.6, n=7 vs. −130.6±11.5, n=7; −111.5±8.5, n=7, respectively). Immunocytochemistry revealed that the expression of MOG1 and Na v 1.5 were decreased in both HEK and neonatal cells when compared to scramble siRNAs or control groups. These results show that MOG1 is an essential co-factor for Na v 1.5 by way of a channel trafficking. Such interactions between MOG1 and Na v 1.5 suggest that early localization of MOG1 on the membrane of neonatal cardiomyocytes may be necessary for proper localization and the distribution of Na v 1.5 during cardiac development. This research has received full or partial funding support from the American Heart Association, AHA National Center.


2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (1) ◽  
pp. H439-H450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Zebedin ◽  
Markus Mille ◽  
Maria Speiser ◽  
Touran Zarrabi ◽  
Walter Sandtner ◽  
...  

Intracardiac transplantation of undifferentiated skeletal muscle cells (myoblasts) has emerged as a promising therapy for myocardial infarct repair and is already undergoing clinical trials. The fact that cells originating from skeletal muscle have different electrophysiological properties than cardiomyocytes, however, may considerably limit the success of this therapy and, in addition, cause side effects. Indeed, a major problem observed after myoblast transplantation is the occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias. The most often transient nature of these arrhythmias may suggest that, once transplanted into cardiac tissue, skeletal muscle cells adopt more cardiac-like electrophysiological properties. To test whether a cardiac cell environment can indeed modify electrophysiological parameters of skeletal muscle cells, we treated mouse C2C12 myocytes with medium preconditioned by primary cardiocytes and compared their functional sodium current properties with those of control cells. We found this treatment to significantly alter the activation and inactivation properties of sodium currents from “skeletal muscle” to more “cardiac”-like ones. Sodium currents of cardiac-conditioned cells showed a reduced sensitivity to block by tetrodotoxin. These findings and reverse transcription PCR experiments suggest that an upregulation of the expression of the cardiac sodium channel isoform Nav1.5 versus the skeletal muscle isoform Nav1.4 is responsible for the observed changes in sodium current function. We conclude that cardiomyocytes alter sodium channel isoform expression of skeletal muscle cells via a paracrine mechanism. Thereby, skeletal muscle cells with more cardiac-like sodium current properties are generated.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1377
Author(s):  
Adriano M. Gigante ◽  
Francisco Olivença ◽  
Maria João Catalão ◽  
Paula Leandro ◽  
José Moniz-Pereira ◽  
...  

Double-stranded DNA bacteriophages end their lytic cycle by disrupting the host cell envelope, which allows the release of the virion progeny. Each phage must synthesize lysis proteins that target each cell barrier to phage release. In addition to holins, which permeabilize the cytoplasmic membrane, and endolysins, which disrupt the peptidoglycan (PG), mycobacteriophages synthesize a specific lysis protein, LysB, capable of detaching the outer membrane from the complex cell wall of mycobacteria. The family of LysB proteins is highly diverse, with many members presenting an extended N-terminus. The N-terminal region of mycobacteriophage Ms6 LysB shows structural similarity to the PG-binding domain (PGBD) of the φKZ endolysin. A fusion of this region with enhanced green fluorescent protein (Ms6LysBPGBD-EGFP) was shown to bind to Mycobacterium smegmatis, Mycobacterium vaccae, Mycobacterium bovis BGC and Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra cells pretreated with SDS or Ms6 LysB. In pulldown assays, we demonstrate that Ms6 LysB and Ms6LysBPGBD-EGFP bind to purified peptidoglycan of M. smegmatis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis, demonstrating affinity to PG of the A1γ chemotype. An infection assay with an Ms6 mutant producing a truncated version of LysB lacking the first 90 amino acids resulted in an abrupt lysis. These results clearly demonstrate that the N-terminus of Ms6 LysB binds to the PG.


Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 130 (suppl_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra Leo-Macias ◽  
Esperanza Agullo-Pascual ◽  
Eli Rothenberg ◽  
Mario Delmar

Sodium current amplitude, kinetics and regulation depend on the properties of the pore-forming protein (mostly NaV1.5 in adult heart) and on the specific molecular partners with which the channel protein associates. The composition of the voltage-gated sodium channel macromolecular complex is location-specific; yet, the exact position of NaV1.5 in the subcellular landscape of the intercalated disc (ID), remains unclear. We implemented diffraction unlimited microscopy (direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy, or “dSTORM”) to localize the pore-forming subunit of the cardiac sodium channel NaV1.5 with a resolution of 20nm on the XY plane. In isolated adult ventricular myocytes, NaV1.5 was found in distinct semi-circular clusters. When the entire population of clusters within a 500 nm window from the ID was considered (more than 350 individual clusters analyzed), 75% of them localized to N-cadherin rich sites. NaV1.5-distal clusters were found at an average 313±15 nm from the cell end. Introducing an astigmatic lens in the light path allowed us to solve cluster location in three dimensions, at resolutions of 20 nm in XY and 40 nm in the z plane. Three-dimensional images confirmed the preferential localization at or near N-cadherin plaques, and further suggested that NaV1.5 arrives to the membrane via N-cadherin-anchored paths, most likely microtubules. In additional experiments, we developed a novel approach to correlate the image of NaV1.5 clusters by dSTORM with the cellular ultrastructure as resolved by electron microscopy on the same sample. This “correlative light-electron microscopy” method confirmed the preference of NaV1.5 clusters at sites of mechanical coupling. Overall, we provide the first ultrastructural description of NaV1.5 at the cardiac ID and its relation with the major electron-dense domains of the adult heart. Our data support a model by which microtubule-mediated delivery of NaV1.5 anchors at N-cadherin-rich sites, likely “mixed junctions” also containing desmosomal molecules (such as plakophilin-2; see Cerrone et al; Circulation 129:1092-1103, 2014) and connexin43. These findings have major implications to the understanding of sodium current disruption in diseases affecting the integrity of the ID.


Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 130 (suppl_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zifan Pei ◽  
Andy Hudmon ◽  
Theodore R Cummins

Cardiac sodium channel (Nav1.5) is responsible for the generation and propagation of the cardiac action potential, which underlies cardiac excitability. It can be modified by a variety of post-translational modifications. Palmitoylation is one of the most common post-translational lipid modifications that can dynamically regulate protein life cycle and functional activity. In our study, we identified palmitoylation on Nav1.5 and its alteration in channel biophysical properties. Nav1.5 palmitoylation was identified in both HEK 293 cells stably expressing Nav1.5 and cardiac tissues using acyl-biotin exchange assay. Nav1.5 palmitoylation was inhibited by pre-incubating the cells with the inhibitor 2-Br-Palmitate (2BP, 25uM, 24hrs). Biophysically, 2BP treatment drastically shifted the channel steady-state inactivation to more hyperpolarized voltages, suggesting palmitoylation altering channel functional activity. In addition, four predicted endogenous palmitoylation sites were identified using CSS-Palm 3.0. Site-directed mutagenesis method was used to generate a cysteine removing background of wt Nav1.5 to study the role of predicted sites. Patch clamp analysis of wt and cysteine-removed Nav1.5 revealed a significant change in channel biophysics. 2BP treatment significantly shifted steady-state inactivation of wt Nav1.5 while not affecting cysteine-removed Nav1.5 significantly, indicating the important role of these four cysteine sites in modulating channel palmitoylation. Moreover, several LQT disease mutations were identified to potentially add or remove palmitoylation sites. Further analysis of these disease mutations revealed a significant shift in channel steady-state inactivation and this alteration cannot be seen with the substitution of other residues on the same site, suggesting the specific role of cysteine residue in causing the functional alteration. For the LQT mutation that removes potential palmitoylation site, 2BP treatment did not affect channel biophysical properties, indicating the essential role of this cysteine in channel palmitoylation. These results suggest that palmitoylation on Nav1.5 regulates channel functional activity and its modulation may contribute to new cardiac channelopathies.


2002 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 409-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Nadeau ◽  
H. A. Lester

The neuron restrictive silencer factor (NRSF/REST) has been shown to bind to the promoters of many neuron-specific genes and is able to suppress transcription of Na+channels in PC12 cells, although its functional effect in terminally differentiated neurons is unknown. We constructed lentiviral vectors to express NRSF as a bicistronic message with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and followed infected hippocampal neurons in culture over a period of 1–2 wk. NRSF-expressing neurons showed a time-dependent suppression of Na+channel function as measured by whole cell electrophysiology. Suppression was reversed or prevented by the addition of membrane-permeable cAMP analogues and enhanced by cAMP antagonists but not affected by increasing protein expression with a viral enhancer. Secondary effects, including altered sensitivity to glutamate and GABA and reduced outward K+currents, were duplicated by culturing GFP-infected control neurons in TTX. The striking similarity of the phenotypes makes NRSF potentially useful as a genetic “silencer” and also suggests avenues of further exploration that may elucidate the transcription factor's in vivo role in neuronal plasticity.


Toxins ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 802
Author(s):  
Oksana V. Nekrasova ◽  
Alexandra L. Primak ◽  
Anastasia A. Ignatova ◽  
Valery N. Novoseletsky ◽  
Olga V. Geras’kina ◽  
...  

Recently developed fluorescent protein-scorpion toxin chimeras (FP-Tx) show blocking activities for potassium voltage-gated channels of Kv1 family and retain almost fully pharmacological profiles of the parental peptide toxins (Kuzmenkov et al., Sci Rep. 2016, 6, 33314). Here we report on N-terminally green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged agitoxin 2 (GFP-L2-AgTx2) with high affinity and selectivity for the binding site of Kv1.3 channel involved in the pathogenesis of various (primarily of autoimmune origin) diseases. The basis for this selectivity relates to N-terminal location of GFP, since transposition of GFP to the C-terminus of AgTx2 recovered specific interactions with the Kv1.1 and Kv1.6 binding sites. Competitive binding experiments revealed that the binding site of GFP-L2-AgTx2 overlaps that of charybdotoxin, kaliotoxin 1, and agitoxin 2, the known Kv1.3-channel pore blockers. GFP-L2-AgTx2 was demonstrated to be applicable as a fluorescent probe to search for Kv1.3 pore blockers among individual compounds and in complex mixtures, to measure blocker affinities, and to visualize Kv1.3 distribution at the plasma membrane of Kv1.3-expressing HEK293 cells. Our studies show that definite combinations of fluorescent proteins and peptide blockers can result in considerable modulation of the natural blocker-channel binding profile yielding selective fluorescent ligands of certain channels.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine P. Chia ◽  
Noriko Inoguchi ◽  
Kyle C. Varon ◽  
Bradley M. Bartholomai ◽  
Hideaki Moriyama

Abstract Objective The nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of Dictyostelium discoideum, a unicellular eukaryote, have relatively high A+T-contents of 77.5% and 72.65%, respectively. To begin to investigate how the pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway fulfills the demand for dTTP, we determined the catalytic properties and structure of the key enzyme deoxyuridine triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase) that hydrolyzes dUTP to dUMP, the precursor of dTTP. Results The annotated genome of D. discoideum identifies a gene encoding a polypeptide containing the five conserved motifs of homotrimeric dUTPases. Recombinant proteins, comprised of either full-length or core polypeptides with all conserved motifs but lacking residues 1-37 of the N-terminus, were active dUTPases. Crystallographic analyses of the core enzyme indicated that the C-termini, normally flexible, were constrained by interactions with the shortened N-termini that arose from the loss of residues 1-37. This allowed greater access of dUTP to active sites, resulting in enhanced catalytic parameters. A tagged protein comprised of the N-terminal forty amino acids of dUTPase fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP) was expressed in D. discoideum cells. Supporting a prediction of mitochondrial targeting information within the N-terminus, localization and subcellular fractionation studies showed GFP to be in mitochondria. N-terminal sequencing of immunoprecipitated GFP revealed the loss of the dUTPase sequence upon import into the organelle.


2007 ◽  
Vol 81 (13) ◽  
pp. 6899-6908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Yea ◽  
Joanna Dembowy ◽  
Laura Pacione ◽  
Martha Brown

ABSTRACT Adenovirus serotypes 2 and 5 are taken into cells by receptor-mediated endocytosis, and following release from endosomes, destabilized virions travel along microtubules to accumulate around the nucleus. The entry process culminates in delivery of the viral genome through nuclear pores. This model is based on studies with conventional cell lines, such as HeLa and HEp-2, but in HEK293 cells, which are routinely used in this laboratory because they are permissive for replication of multiple adenovirus serotypes, a different trafficking pattern has been observed. Nuclei of 293 cells have an irregular shape, with an indented region, and virions directly labeled with carboxyfluorescein accumulate in a cluster within that indented region. The clusters, which form in close proximity to the microtubule organizing center (MTOC) and to the Golgi apparatus, are remarkably stable; a fluorescent signal can be seen in the MTOC region up to 16 h postinfection. Furthermore, if cells are infected and then undergo mitosis after the cluster is formed, the signal is found at each spindle pole. Despite the sequestration of virions near the MTOC, 293 cells are no less sensitive than other cells to productive infection with adenovirus. Even though cluster formation depends on intact microtubules, infectivity is not compromised by disruption of microtubules with either nocodazole or colchicine, as determined by expression of an enhanced green fluorescent protein reporter gene inserted in the viral genome. These results indicate that virion clusters do not represent the infectious pathway and suggest an alternative route to the nucleus that does not depend on nocodazole-sensitive microtubules.


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