title: Properties of Na+ currents conducted by a skeletal muscle L-type Ca2+ channel pore mutant (SkEIIIK).
abstract: Four glutamate residues residing at corresponding positions within the four conserved membrane-spanning repeats of L-type Ca(2+) channels are important structural determinants for the passage of Ca(2+) across the selectivity filter. Mutation of the critical glutamate in Repeat III in the a 1S subunit of the skeletal L-type channel (Ca(v)1.1) to lysine virtually eliminates passage of Ca(2+) during step depolarizations. In this study, we examined the ability of this mutant Ca(v)1.1 channel (SkEIIIK) to conduct inward Na(+) current. When 150 mM Na(+) was present as the sole monovalent cation in the bath solution, dysgenic (Ca(v)1.1 null) myotubes expressing SkEIIIK displayed slowly-activating, non-inactivating, nifedipine-sensitive inward currents with a reversal potential (45.6 ± 2.5 mV) near that expected for Na(+). Ca(2+) block of SkEIIIK-mediated Na(+) current was revealed by the substantial enhancement of Na(+) current amplitude after reduction of Ca(2+) in the external recording solution from 10 mM to near physiological 1 mM. Inward SkEIIIK-mediated currents were potentiated by either ±Bay K 8644 (10 mM) or 200-ms depolarizing prepulses to +90 mV. In contrast, outward monovalent currents were reduced by ±Bay K 8644 and were unaffected by strong depolarization, indicating a preferential potentiation of inward Na(+) currents through the mutant Ca(v)1.1 channel. Taken together, our results show that SkEIIIK functions as a non-inactivating, junctionally-targeted Na(+) channel when Na(+) is the sole monvalent cation present and urge caution when interpreting the impact of mutations designed to ablate Ca(2+) permeability mediated by Ca(v) channels on physiological processes that extend beyond channel gating and permeability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA. roger.bannister@ucdenver.edu
authors.forename: Roger A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bannister
authors.forename: Kurt G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Beam
mesh_terms: D001498:3-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-5-nitro-4-(2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-, Methyl ester / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002120:Calcium Channel Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D020746:Calcium Channels, L-Type / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000819:agonists / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D020125:Mutation, Missense; D012964:Sodium / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C529218:CACNA1S protein, mouse; D002120:Calcium Channel Agonists; D020746:Calcium Channels, L-Type; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D001498:3-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-5-nitro-4-(2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-, Methyl ester; D012964:Sodium; D002118:Calcium