title: Conductance and permeation of monovalent cations through depletion-activated Ca2+ channels (ICRAC) in Jurkat T cells.
abstract: We studied monovalent permeability of Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ channels (ICRAC) in Jurkat T lymphocytes following depletion of calcium stores. When external free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]o) was reduced to micromolar levels in the absence of Mg2+, the inward current transiently decreased and then increased approximately sixfold, accompanied by visibly enhanced current noise. The monovalent currents showed a characteristically slow deactivation (tau = 3.8 and 21.6 s). The extent of Na+ current deactivation correlated with the instantaneous Ca2+ current upon readdition of [Ca2+]o. No conductance increase was seen when [Ca2+]o was reduced before activation of ICRAC. With Na+ outside and Cs+ inside, the current rectified inwardly without apparent reversal below 40 mV. The sequence of conductance determined from the inward current at -80 mV was Na+ > Li+ = K+ > Rb+ >> Cs+. Unitary inward conductance of the Na+ current was 2.6 pS, estimated from the ratios delta sigma2/delta Imean at different voltages. External Ca2+ blocked the Na+ current reversibly with an IC50 value of 4 microM. Na+ currents were also blocked by 3 mM Mg2+ or 10 microM La3+. We conclude that ICRAC channels become permeable to monovalent cations at low levels of external divalent ions. In contrast to voltage-activated Ca2+ channels, the monovalent conductance is highly selective for Na+ over Cs+. Na+ currents through ICRAC channels provide a means to study channel characteristics in an amplified current model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California at Irvine 92717, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lepple-Wienhues
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Cahalan
mesh_terms: D000838:Anions / Q000378:metabolism; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D002414:Cations, Monovalent / Q000378:metabolism*; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D006801:Humans; D019169:Jurkat Cells; D007700:Kinetics; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D012964:Sodium / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000838:Anions; D015220:Calcium Channels; D002414:Cations, Monovalent; D012964:Sodium; D002118:Calcium