title: Fluctuations in Xenopus oocytes protein phosphorylation levels during two-electrode voltage clamp measurements.
abstract: The biophysical and pharmacological properties of ion channels and transporters are often studied in exogenous expression systems using either the two-electrode voltage clamp (TEVC) in Xenopus oocytes or the patch clamp techniques. Cells machinery is trusted to produce active proteins that are correctly phosphorylated and glycosylated. However, native physiological cellular processes that might be altered during the course of the experiment are often ignored. Here, we detected and quantified the effects of various electrophysiological recording conditions on the phosphorylation levels of Xenopus oocytes proteins, including membrane proteins, as phosphorylation/dephosphorylation events modulate ion channels gating and cell surface expression. Two strategies were chosen to determine relative protein phosphorylation levels: a direct detection with a phospho-Ser/Thr PKA substrate antibody, and a functional method employing two different leak potassium channels as indicators, chosen based on their opposite responses to protein kinase phosphorylation. We report that holding potential, and bath solution properties such as pH, osmolarity, temperature and ion composition, dramatically affect protein phosphorylation levels in Xenopus oocytes. Our results might explain some of the fluctuations in the biophysical properties of expressed channels, often observed during electrophysiological measurements. Minimizing possible misinterpretations could be achieved using either mutated, kinase insensitive, channels or kinases/phosphatases modulators.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences and the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel.
authors.forename: Asi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Noam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zilberberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016477:Artifacts; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000502:physiology; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008839:Microelectrodes; D009865:Oocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins