title: 4-aminopyridine prevents the conformational changes associated with p/c-type inactivation in shaker channels.
abstract: The effect of 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) on Kv channel activation has been extensively investigated, but its interaction with inactivation is less well understood. Voltage-clamp fluorimetry was used to directly monitor the action of 4-AP on conformational changes associated with slow inactivation of Shaker channels. Tetramethylrhodamine-5-maleimide was used to fluorescently label substituted cysteine residues in the S3-S4 linker (A359C) and pore (S424C). Activation- and inactivation-induced changes in fluorophore microenvironment produced fast and slow phases of fluorescence that were modified by 4-AP. In Shaker A359C, 4-AP block reduced the slow-phase contribution from 61 +/- 3 to 28 +/- 5%, suggesting that binding inhibits the conformational changes associated with slow inactivation and increased the fast phase that reports channel activation from 39 +/- 3 to 72 +/- 5%. In addition, 4-AP enhanced both fast and slow phases of fluorescence return upon repolarization (tau reduced from 87 +/- 15 to 40 +/- 1 ms and from 739 +/- 83 to 291 +/- 21 ms, respectively), suggesting that deactivation and recovery from inactivation were enhanced. In addition, the effect of 4-AP on the slow phase of fluorescence was dramatically reduced in channels with either reduced (T449V) or permanent P-type (W434F) inactivation. Interestingly, the slow phase of fluorescence return of W434F channels was enhanced by 4-AP, suggesting that 4-AP prevents the transition to C-type inactivation in these channels. These data directly demonstrate that 4-AP prevents slow inactivation of Kv channels and that 4-AP can bind to P-type-inactivated channels and selectively inhibit the onset of C-type inactivation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Claydon
authors.forename: Moni
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaid
authors.forename: Saman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rezazadeh
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kehl
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fedida
mesh_terms: D015761:4-Aminopyridine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005453:Fluorescence; D012235:Rhodamines; D051637:Shaker Superfamily of Potassium Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects*; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D012235:Rhodamines; D051637:Shaker Superfamily of Potassium Channels; C401833:tetramethylrhodamine methyl ester; D015761:4-Aminopyridine