Actin filaments regulate the stretch sensitivity of large-conductance, Ca2+-activated K+ channels in coronary artery smooth muscle cells.
Using the inside-out patch-clamp technique, large-conductance Ca2+ -activated K+ channel (BK(Ca)) currents were recorded from coronary artery smooth muscle cells. Cytochalasin D, an actin filament disrupter, increased channel activity ( NP(o), where N is the number of channels and P(o) the open probability), and this increase was reversed by phalloidin, an actin filament stabilizer. NP(o) was also increased by colchicine, a microtubule disrupter, and decreased by taxol, a microtubule stabilizer. With the stepwise increase of negative pressure in the patch pipettes, the activity of BK(Ca) gradually increased: the maximum effect (527% increase in NP(o)) was achieved at -40 cmH(2)O and the half-maximum effect at -25 cmH(2)O. The increase in NP(o) in response to negative pressure was abolished by phalloidin but not by taxol. These results imply that both actin filaments and microtubules inhibit the opening of BK(Ca) in coronary artery smooth muscle cells, but that only actin filaments are involved in the stretch sensitivity of BK(Ca).
National Research Laboratory for Cellular Signalling and Department of Physiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 28 Yonkeun-Dong, Chongno-Ku, 110-799 Seoul, Korea.
Lin
L
Piao
Won-Kyung
WK
Ho
Yung E
YE
Earm
D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D051036:Large-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels; D008870:Microtubules / Q000502:physiology; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D024681:Potassium Channels, Calcium-Activated / Q000502:physiology*; D011817:Rabbits; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
D051036:Large-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels; D024681:Potassium Channels, Calcium-Activated