title: Amino acids in the pore region of Kv1 potassium channels dictate cell-surface protein levels: a possible trafficking code in the Kv1 subfamily.
abstract: Kv1.1 and Kv1.4 potassium channels have different pore region determinants that were found to affect their cell-surface levels positively and negatively [Zhu, Watanabe, Gomez and Thornhill (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276, 39419-39427; Zhu, Watanabe, Gomez and Thornhill (2003) J. Biol. Chem. 278, 25558-25567; Zhu, Watanabe, Gomez and Thornhill (2003) Biochem. J. 375, 761-768]. In the present study, we focused on the deep pore region of Kv1 members to test whether a cell-surface trafficking code was dictated by two amino acids. Kv1 channels with a threonine/lysine amino acid pair in a non-contiguous pore region promoted high surface levels, whereas a serine/tyrosine amino acid pair inhibited high surface expression by inducing a high level of partial endoplasmic reticulum retention. Our work suggests that a possible positive trafficking amino acid pair coding here for the Kv1 subfamily is Thr/Lys>Thr/Val>Thr/Tyr>Thr/Arg approximately Thr/His>Ser/Val>Ser/Tyr>Ser/Lys. The Kv1 trafficking code was not transferable to a Kv2 family member and thus it appears that it only governs surface levels in the context of its Kv1 native pore loop region and/or its S5 and S6 regions. All members of a given Kv2, Kv3 or Kv4 potassium channel subfamily have identical amino acids at similar positions in their deep pore regions (Thr/Tyr or Thr/Val), which suggests that any difference in surface levels among members is not dictated by these amino acids. Thus a major determinant for cell-surface trafficking of Kv1 potassium channels is an amino acid pair in their deep pore regions, whereas the cell-surface levels of a given Kv2, Kv3 or Kv4 subfamily member are probably not affected by these amino acids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458, USA.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gomez
authors.forename: Itaru
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: William B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Thornhill
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D016466:CHO Cells; D019556:COS Cells; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D006224:Cricetinae; D003412:Cricetulus; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D021381:Protein Transport; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D008565:Membrane Proteins