title: Redox regulation of large conductance Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels in smooth muscle cells.
abstract: The effects of sulfhydryl reduction/oxidation on the gating of large-conductance, Ca(2+)-activated K+ (maxi-K) channels were examined in excised patches from tracheal myocytes. Channel activity was modified by sulfhydryl redox agents applied to the cytosolic surface, but not the extracellular surface, of membrane patches. Sulfhydryl reducing agents dithiothreitol, beta-mercaptoethanol, and GSH augmented, whereas sulfhydryl oxidizing agents diamide, thimerosal, and 2,2'-dithiodipyridine inhibited, channel activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Channel stimulation by reduction and inhibition by oxidation persisted following washout of the compounds, but the effects of reduction were reversed by subsequent oxidation, and vice versa. The thiol-specific reagents N-ethylmaleimide and (2-aminoethyl)methanethiosulfonate inhibited channel activity and prevented the effect of subsequent sulfhydryl oxidation. Measurements of macroscopic currents in inside-out patches indicate that reduction only shifted the voltage/nP0 relationship without an effect on the maximum conductance of the patch, suggesting that the increase in nP0 following reduction did not result from recruitment of more functional channels but rather from changes of channel gating. We conclude that redox modulation of cysteine thiol groups, which probably involves thiol/disulfide exchange, alters maxi-K channel gating, and that this modulation likely affects channel activity under physiological conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Z W
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nara
authors.forename: Y X
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Kotlikoff
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology*; D003600:Cytosol / Q000378:metabolism; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D005020:Ethyl Methanesulfonate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D005033:Ethylmaleimide / Q000494:pharmacology; D006736:Horses; D007202:Indicators and Reagents / Q000494:pharmacology; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction / Q000187:drug effects; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D015221:Potassium Channels; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; C093171:methanethiosulfonate ethylammonium; D005020:Ethyl Methanesulfonate; D005033:Ethylmaleimide; D002118:Calcium