Effects of components of ischemia on the Kv4.3 current stably expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Two novel Brugada syndrome-associated mutations increase KV4.3 membrane expression and function

The human cardiac fast transient outward K+ channel is composed of the KV4.3 α subunit encoded by KCND3 and the K+ channel‑interacting protein 2 (KChIP2) β subunit, and determines the early repolarization of the action potential (AP). Two human mutations (G600R and L450F) in KV4.3 are associated with Brugada syndrome and they increase the KV4.3/KChIP2‑encoded fast transient outward K+ current (Ito,f) and cause the stable loss of the AP dome. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying the gain of Ito,f function by these two mutations are largely unknown. The experiments in the present study were undertaken to investigate the effect of these mutations and the underlying mechanism. Whole cell patch‑clamp recording was performed in HEK‑293 cells expressing KV4.3‑wild‑type (WT) and KV4.3 mutants with KChIP2. The two individual mutant‑encoded currents were significantly increased but the kinetics of the channels affected by the two mutations were different. The two mutations slowed KV4.3/KChIP2‑encoded channel inactivation; they did not increase the recovery from the KV4.3/KChIP2‑encoded channel inactivation. Western blotting showed that total KV4.3 protein was significantly augmented in HEK‑293 cells expressing the two individual mutants with KChIP2. Furthermore, immunofluorescence confocal microscopy demonstrated that the KV4.3 channel protein was expressed more in the cell membrane compared to the cytoplasm in cells that expressed individual mutants with KChIP2. Also, KChIP2 increased the amount of channel protein in the cell membrane of KV4.3 mutants significantly more than KV4.3‑WT. Reverse transcription‑polymerase chain reaction showed that KV4.3 mRNA was not significantly changed by individual mutations in the presence of KChIP2. Taken together, the present study revealed that the mutations cause a gain‑of‑function of KV4.3/KChIP2‑encoded channels by increasing membrane protein expression and slowing channel inactivation.

Effect of ouabain on myocardial remodeling in rats

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ouabain (EO) on myocardial remodeling. Twenty-two adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into two groups: the rats in the EO group (n=12) were intraperitoneally injected with EO daily and those in the control group (n=10) were injected with physiological saline daily. After 8 weeks the rats were sacrificed. The ultrastructural changes in the myocardium were observed. The expression levels of voltage-gated potassium channel 4.2 (K_V4.2) were detected by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The effects of EO on the myocardial action potential and transient potassium efflux (I_to) were measured by patch clamping. The systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 10 of the 12 rats in the EO group, designated as the EO-sensitive (OS) rats, began to increase from the fifth week of treatment and was significantly higher compared with that of the control group 6 weeks later (P<0.01). The remaining 2 rats in the EO group that presented no increase in SBP following 8 weeks of treatment (P>0.05) were designated as EO-resistant (OR) rats. Pathological ultrastructural changes were significant in the apical mid-myocardium of the OS rats. No significant differences in K_V4.2 expression were observed among the OS, OR and control rats. The patch clamp results revealed that EO prolongs the action potential duration, reduces I_to and triggers the electrical remodeling of the myocardium. EO induces a blood pressure increase and triggers structural and electrical remodeling.

Regulation of Kv4.3 currents by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II

The voltage-dependent K+channel 4.3 (Kv4.3) is one of the major molecular correlates encoding a class of rapidly inactivating K+currents, including the transient outward current in the heart ( Ito) and A currents ( IA) in neuronal and smooth muscle preparations. Recent studies have shown that Itoin human atrial myocytes and IAin murine colonic myocytes are modulated by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII); however, the molecular target of CaMKII in these studies has not been elucidated. We performed experiments to investigate whether CaMKII could regulate Kv4.3 currents directly. Inclusion of the autothiophosphorylated form of CaMKII in the patch pipette (10 nM) prolonged Kv4.3 currents such that the time required to reach 50% inactivation from peak more than doubled, with positive shifts in voltage dependence of both activation and inactivation. In contrast, the rate of recovery from inactivation was accelerated under these conditions. CaMKII-inhibitory peptide or KN-93 produced effects opposite to that above; thus the rate of inactivation was increased, and recovery from inactivation decreased. A number of mutagenesis experiments were conducted on the three candidate CaMKII consensus sequence sites on the channel. Mutations at S550A, located at the COOH-terminal region of the channel, resulted in currents that inactivated more rapidly but recovered from inactivation at a slower rate than that of wild-type controls. In addition, these currents were unaffected by dialysis with either autothiophosphorylated CaMKII or the specific inhibitory peptide of CaMKII, suggesting that CaMKII slows the inactivation and accelerates the rate of recovery from inactivation of Kv4.3 currents by a direct effect at S550A, located at the COOH-terminal region of the channel.

Extracellular acidosis modulates drug block of Kv4.3 currents by flecainide and quinidine

INTRODUCTION

As a molecular model of the effect of ischemia on drug block of the transient outward potassium current, the effect of acidosis on the blocking properties of flecainide and quinidine on Kv4.3 currents was studied.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Kv4.3 channels were stably expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Whole-cell, voltage clamp techniques were used to measure the effect of flecainide and quinidine on Kv4.3 currents in solutions of pH 7.4 and 6.0. Extracellular acidosis attenuated flecainide block of Kv4.3 currents, with the IC50 for flecainide (based on current-time integrals) increasing from 7.8 +/- 1.1 microM at pH 7.4 to 125.1 +/- 1.1 microM at pH 6.0. Similar effects were observed for quinidine (IC50 5.2 +/- 1.1 microM at pH 7.4 and 22.1 +/- 1.3 microM at pH 6.0). Following block by either drug, Kv4.3 channels showed a hyperpolarizing shift in the voltage sensitivity of inactivation and a slowing in the time to recover from inactivation/block that was unaffected by acidosis. In contrast, acidosis attenuated the effects on the time course of inactivation and the degree of tonic- and frequency-dependent block for both drugs.

CONCLUSION

Extracellular acidosis significantly decreases the potency of blockade of Kv4.3 by both flecainide and quinidine. This change in potency may be due to allosteric changes in the channel, changes in the proportion of uncharged drug, and/or changes in the kinetics of drug binding or unbinding. These findings are in contrast to the effects of extracellular acidosis on block of the fast sodium channel by these agents and provide a molecular mechanism for divergent modulation of drug block potentially leading to ischemia-associated proarrhythmia.