title: Modes of operation of the BKCa channel beta2 subunit.
abstract: The beta(2) subunit of the large conductance Ca(2+)- and voltage-activated K(+) channel (BK(Ca)) modulates a number of channel functions, such as the apparent Ca(2+)/voltage sensitivity, pharmacological and kinetic properties of the channel. In addition, the N terminus of the beta(2) subunit acts as an inactivating particle that produces a relatively fast inactivation of the ionic conductance. Applying voltage clamp fluorometry to fluorescently labeled human BK(Ca) channels (hSlo), we have investigated the mechanisms of operation of the beta(2) subunit. We found that the leftward shift on the voltage axis of channel activation curves (G(V)) produced by coexpression with beta(2) subunits is associated with a shift in the same direction of the fluorescence vs. voltage curves (F(V)), which are reporting the voltage dependence of the main voltage-sensing region of hSlo (S4-transmembrane domain). In addition, we investigated the inactivating mechanism of the beta(2) subunits by comparing its properties with the ones of the typical N-type inactivation process of Shaker channel. While fluorescence recordings from the inactivated Shaker channels revealed the immobilization of the S4 segments in the active conformation, we did not observe a similar feature in BK(Ca) channels coexpressed with the beta(2) subunit. The experimental observations are consistent with the view that the beta(2) subunit of BK(Ca) channels facilitates channel activation by changing the voltage sensor equilibrium and that the beta(2)-induced inactivation process does not follow a typical N-type mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology-Division of Molecular Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Savalli
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kondratiev
authors.forename: Sarah Buxton
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: de Quintana
authors.forename: Ligia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Toro
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Olcese
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003545:Cysteine / Q000737:chemistry; D004594:Electrophysiology; D006801:Humans; D015640:Ion Channel Gating; D051036:Large-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D009865:Oocytes; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D021122:Protein Subunits / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D051637:Shaker Superfamily of Potassium Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D051036:Large-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels; D021122:Protein Subunits; D051637:Shaker Superfamily of Potassium Channels; D003545:Cysteine