title: Molecular determinants of inactivation in voltage-gated Ca2+ channels.
abstract: Evolution has created a large family of different classes of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels and a variety of additional splice variants with different inactivation properties. Inactivation controls the amount of Ca2+ entry during an action potential and is, therefore, believed to play an important role in tissue-specific Ca2+ signalling. Furthermore, mutations in a neuronal Ca2+ channel (Ca(v)2.1) that are associated with the aetiology of neurological disorders such as familial hemiplegic migraine and ataxia cause significant changes in the process of channel inactivation. Ca2+ channels of a given subtype may inactivate by three different conformational changes: a fast and a slow voltage-dependent inactivation process and in some channel types by an additional Ca2+-dependent inactivation mechanism. Inactivation kinetics of Ca2+ channels are determined by the intrinsic properties of their pore-forming alpha1-subunits and by interactions with other channel subunits. This review focuses on structural determinants of Ca2+ channel inactivation in different parts of Ca2+ channel alpha1-subunits, including pore-forming transmembrane segments and loops, intracellular domain linkers and the carboxyl terminus. Inactivation is also affected by the interaction of the alpha1-subunits with auxiliary beta-subunits and intracellular regulator proteins. The evidence shows that pore-forming S6 segments and conformational changes in extra- (pore loop) and intracellular linkers connected to pore-forming segments may play a principal role in the modulation of Ca2+ channel inactivation. Structural concepts of Ca2+ channel inactivation are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Biochemische Pharmakologie, Peter-Mayr-Strasse 1, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria. steffen.hering@uibk.ac.at
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hering
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berjukow
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sokolov
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marksteiner
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kraus
authors.forename: E N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Timin
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D001259:Ataxia / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001665:Binding Sites; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020013:Calcium Signaling; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009154:Mutation; D011487:Protein Conformation; D021122:Protein Subunits; D050765:Qa-SNARE Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D021122:Protein Subunits; D050765:Qa-SNARE Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins