title: Identification of a second region of the beta-subunit involved in regulation of calcium channel inactivation.
abstract: Previous studies have shown that NH2 termini of the type 1 and 2 beta-subunits modulate the rate at which the neuronal alpha 1E calcium channel inactivates in response to voltage and that they do so independently of their common effect to stimulate activation by voltage (R. Olcese, N. Qin, T. Schneider, A. Neely, X. Wei, E. Stefani, and L. Birnbaumer, Neuron 13: 1433-1438, 1994). By constructing NH2-terminal deletions of several splice variants of beta-subunits, we have now found differences in the way they affect the rate of alpha 1E inactivation that lead us to identify a second domain that also regulates the rate of voltage-induced inactivation of the Ca2+ channel. This second domain, named segment 3, lies between two regions of high-sequence identity between all known beta-subunits and exists in two lengths (long and short), each encoded in a separate exon. Beta-Subunits with the longer 45- to 53-amino acid version cause the channel to inactivate more slowly than subunits with the shorter 7-amino acid version. As is the case for the NH2 terminus, the segment 3 does not affect the regulation of channel activation by the beta-subunit. In addition, the effect of the NH2-terminal segment prevails over that of the internal segment. This raises the possibility that phosphorylation, other types of posttranslational modification, or interaction with other auxiliary calcium channel subunits may be necessary to unmask the regulatory effect of the internal segment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of California, Los Angeles 90095, USA.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Olcese
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Cabello
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Birnbaumer
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stefani
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000502:physiology; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D009865:Oocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018075:RNA, Complementary; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014981:Xenopus
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D018075:RNA, Complementary; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins