The Structure of the Ca2+ Channel: Photoaffinity Labeling and Tissue Distribution. In: Morad M, Nayler WG, Kazda S, Schramm M, editors. The Calcium Channel: Structure, Function and Implications. Berlin: Springer Berlin Heidelberg; 1988. pp. 168-92. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-73914-9_15]

Cell-type-specific tuning of Cav1.3 Ca(2+)-channels by a C-terminal automodulatory domain

Cav1.3 L-type Ca(2+)-channel function is regulated by a C-terminal automodulatory domain (CTM). It affects channel binding of calmodulin and thereby tunes channel activity by interfering with Ca(2+)- and voltage-dependent gating. Alternative splicing generates short C-terminal channel variants lacking the CTM resulting in enhanced Ca(2+)-dependent inactivation and stronger voltage-sensitivity upon heterologous expression. However, the role of this modulatory domain for channel function in its native environment is unkown. To determine its functional significance in vivo, we interrupted the CTM with a hemagglutinin tag in mutant mice (Cav1.3DCRD(HA/HA)). Using these mice we provide biochemical evidence for the existence of long (CTM-containing) and short (CTM-deficient) Cav1.3 α1-subunits in brain. The long (HA-labeled) Cav1.3 isoform was present in all ribbon synapses of cochlear inner hair cells. CTM-elimination impaired Ca(2+)-dependent inactivation of Ca(2+)-currents in hair cells but increased it in chromaffin cells, resulting in hyperpolarized resting potentials and reduced pacemaking. CTM disruption did not affect hearing thresholds. We show that the modulatory function of the CTM is affected by its native environment in different cells and thus occurs in a cell-type specific manner in vivo. It stabilizes gating properties of Cav1.3 channels required for normal electrical excitability.

The devapamil-binding site of the purified skeletal muscle receptor for organic-calcium channel blockers is modulated by micromolar and millimolar concentrations of Ca2+

The interaction of 2,7-dimethyl-3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-cyan-7-aza-9-(3- methoxyphenyl) nonahydrochloride (devapamil), a stereospecific analog of (3-[2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)ethyl]- methylaminopropyl-3,4-dimethoxy-(1-methylethyl)benzeneacetonitr ile (verapamil), with the purified skeletal muscle receptor for calcium channel blockers (CaCB) was studied at 4 degrees C and 30 degrees C in the absence and presence of calcium. The purified CaCB receptor bound 0.9 mol devapamil/mol calcium-channel alpha 1 subunit, with an apparent Kd of 13 +/- 2.6 nM at 4 degrees C in the presence of 0.4 microM Ca2+. The affinity, and not the density, of the devapamil-binding site was decreased by lowering the pH from 8.5-6.5, or by increasing the Ca2+ concentration from 0.4 microM to 100 mM. The same results were obtained at 30 degrees C, although the ligand-receptor complex was not stable at Ca2+ concentrations below 10 microM. These binding data were confirmed by kinetic experiments. The rate constants calculated for a pseudo-first-order and a second-order reactions were identical and yielded fourfold lower k-1/k+1 (KD) values than the equilibrium experiments performed using 1 nM and 0.4 microM Ca2+, but the same values using 1 mM Ca2+. 1 mM Ca2+ increased the k-1/k+1 (KD) by decreasing 10-fold the association rate at 4 degrees C. The dissociation rate was increased about 10-fold by 5 microM devapamil or 100 microM D-cis-diltiazem, suggesting that the high affinity site is negatively regulated allosterically by millimolar Ca2+ concentrations and by the occupation of a second low-affinity site. Incubation of the CaCB receptors in the absence of Ca2+ and devapamil at 30 degrees C, but not at 4 degrees C, resulted in an apparent loss of devapamil-binding sites. The decrease in binding sites was caused by a reduced affinity. This apparent loss of binding sites was prevented by the addition of Ca2+ with an apparent median effective concentration of 0.4 microM. The apparent half-maximal inactivation times of the devapamil-binding site were 90 s and 12 min in the presence of 1 nM and 0.4 microM Ca2+, respectively. These results show that micromolar Ca2+ concentrations stabilize the CaCB receptor in a conformation which allows high-affinity binding of phenylalkylamines. Millimolar Ca2+ concentrations induce a low-affinity state of the devapamil-binding site on a stable CaCB receptor.