title: Tetrandrine blocks a slow, large-conductance, Ca(2+)-activated potassium channel besides inhibiting a non-inactivating Ca2+ current in isolated nerve terminals of the rat neurohypophysis.
abstract: The effects of tetrandrine, a bis-benzyl-isoquinoline alkaloid, on voltage-gated Ca2+ currents (ICa) and on Ca(2+)-activated K+ current (IK(Ca)) and channels in isolated nerve terminals of the rat neurohypophysis were investigated using patch-clamp techniques. The non-inactivating component of ICa was inhibited by external tetrandrine in a voltage- and dose-dependent manner, with an IC50 = 10.1 microM. IK(Ca) was elicited by depolarizations when approximately 10 microM Ca2+ was present on the cytoplasmic side. Only externally applied tetrandrine, at 1 microM, decreased the amplitude of IK(Ca), whereas the fast inward Na+ current and transient outward K+ current were not affected. Tetrandrine, applied to the extracellular side of outside-out patches excised from the nerve terminals, induced frequent and short closures of single type II, maxi-Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels. Tetrandrine decreased the channel-open probability, within bursts, with an IC50 = 0.21 microM. Kinetic analysis of the channel activity showed that the open-time constant decreased linearly with increasing tetrandrine concentrations (0.01-3 microM), giving an association rate constant of 8.8 x 10(8) M-1 s-1, whereas the arithmetic mean closed time did not change, giving a dissociation rate constant of 136.6 s-1. These results show that tetrandrine is a high-affinity blocker of the type II, maxi-Ca(2+)-activated K+ channel of the rat neurohypophysial terminals.
authors.affiliation: Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Shrewsbury, MA 01545.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Lemos
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D044182:Benzylisoquinolines; D002118:Calcium / Q000494:pharmacology; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D004594:Electrophysiology; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D009411:Nerve Endings / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D010904:Pituitary Gland, Posterior / Q000294:innervation*; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D044182:Benzylisoquinolines; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D015220:Calcium Channels; D015221:Potassium Channels; C009438:tetrandrine; D002118:Calcium