title: A sodium channel defect in hyperkalemic periodic paralysis: potassium-induced failure of inactivation.
abstract: Hyperkalemic periodic analysis (HPP) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by episodic weakness lasting minutes to days in association with a mild elevation in serum K+. In vitro measurements of whole-cell currents in HPP muscle have demonstrated a persistent, tetrodotoxin-sensitive Na+ current, and we have recently shown by linkage analysis that the Na+ channel alpha subunit gene may contain the HPP mutation. In this study, we have made patch-clamp recordings from cultured HPP myotubes and found a defect in the normal voltage-dependent inactivation of Na+ channels. Moderate elevation of extracellular K+ favors an aberrant gating mode in a small fraction of the channels that is characterized by persistent reopenings and prolonged dwell times in the open state. The Na+ current, through noninactivating channels, may cause the skeletal muscle weakness in HPP by depolarizing the cell, thereby inactivating normal Na+ channels, which are then unable to generate an action potential. Thus the dominant expression of HPP is manifest by inactivation of the wild-type Na+ channel through the influence of the mutant gene product on membrane voltage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Cannon
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Corey
mesh_terms: D004594:Electrophysiology; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D006947:Hyperkalemia / Q000150:complications*; D015640:Ion Channel Gating; D007700:Kinetics; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism; D010245:Paralyses, Familial Periodic / Q000150:complications*; D011188:Potassium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015222:Sodium Channels; D011188:Potassium