title: Creation of a reactive oxygen species-insensitive Kcv channel.
abstract: The current of the minimal viral K(+) channel Kcv(PCBV-1) heterologously expressed in Xenopus oocytes is strongly inhibited by reactive oxygen species (ROS) like H(2)O(2). Possible targets for the ROS effect are two cysteines (C53 and C79) and four methionines (M1, M15, M23, and M26). The C53A/C79A and M23L/M26L double mutations maintained the same ROS sensitivity as the wild type. However, M15L as a single mutant or in combination with C53A/C79A and/or M23L/M26L caused a complete loss of sensitivity to H(2)O(2). These results indicate a prominent role of M15 at the cytosolic end of the outer transmembrane helix for gating of Kcv(PCBV-1). Furthermore, even though the channel lacks a canonical voltage sensor, it exhibits a weak voltage sensitivity, resulting in a slight activation in the millisecond range after a voltage step to negative potentials. The M15L mutation inverts this kinetics into an inactivation, underlining the critical role of this residue for gating. The negative slope of the I-V curves of M15L is the same as in the wild type, indicating that the selectivity filter is not involved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy. schroeder@bio.tu-darmstadt.de
authors.forename: Indra
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schroeder
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gazzarrini
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferrara
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thiel
authors.forename: Ulf-Peter
authors.initials: UP
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moroni
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000494:pharmacology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C405463:Kcv potassium channel, Chlorella virus; D015221:Potassium Channels; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D014764:Viral Proteins; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide