Calcium and barium permeable channels from Aplysia nervous system reconstituted in lipid bilayers

LVA and HVA Ca(2+) currents in ventricular muscle cells of the Lymnaea heart

The single-electrode voltage-clamp technique was used to characterize voltage-gated Ca(2+) currents in dissociated Lymnaea heart ventricular cells. In the presence of 30 mM tetraethylammonium (TEA), two distinct Ca(2+) currents could be identified. The first current activated between -70 and -60 mV. It was fully available for activation at potentials more negative than -80 mV. The current was fast to activate and inactivate. The inactivation of the current was voltage dependent. The current was larger when it was carried by Ca(2+) compared with Ba(2+), although changing the permeant ion had no observable effect on the kinetics of the evoked currents. The current was blocked by Co(2+) and La(3+) (1 mM) but was particularly sensitive to Ni(2+) ions ( approximately 50% block with 100 microM Ni(2+)) and insensitive to low doses of the dihydropyridine Ca(2+) channel antagonist, nifedipine. All these properties classify this current as a member of the low-voltage-activated (LVA) T-type family of Ca(2+) currents. The activation threshold of the current (-70 mV) suggests that it has a role in pacemaking and action potential generation. Muscle contractions were first seen at -50 mV, indicating that this current might supply some of the Ca(2+) necessary for excitation-contraction coupling. The second, a high-voltage-activated (HVA) current, activated at potentials between -40 and -30 mV and was fully available for activation at potentials more negative than -60 mV. This current was also fast to activate and with Ca(2+) as the permeant ion, inactivated completely during the 200-ms voltage step. Substitution of Ba(2+) for Ca(2+) increased the amplitude of the current and significantly slowed the rate of inactivation. The inactivation of this current appeared to be current rather than voltage dependent. This current was blocked by Co(2+) and La(3+) ions (1 mM) but was sensitive to micromolar concentrations of nifedipine ( approximately 50% block 10 microM nifedipine) that were ineffective at blocking the LVA current. These properties characterize this current as a L-type Ca(2+) current. The voltage sensitivity of this current suggests that it is also important in generating the spontaneous action potentials, and in providing some of the Ca(2+) necessary for excitation-contraction coupling. These data provide the first detailed description of the voltage-dependent Ca(2+) currents present in the heart muscle cells of an invertebrate and indicate that pacemaking in the molluscan heart has some similarities with that of the mammalian heart.

Multiple channels mediate calcium leakage in the A7r5 smooth muscle-derived cell line

Ca2+ entry under resting conditions may be important for contraction of vascular smooth muscle, but little is known about the mechanisms involved. Ca2+ leakage was studied in the A7r5 smooth muscle-derived cell line by patch-clamp techniques. Two channels that could mediate calcium influx at resting membrane potentials were characterized. In 110 mM Ba2+, one channel had a slope conductance of 6.0 +/- 0.6 pS and an extrapolated reversal potential of +41 +/- 13 mV (mean +/- SD, n = 8). The current rectified strongly, with no detectable outward current, even at +90 mV. Channel gating was voltage independent. A second type of channel had a linear current-voltage relationship, a slope conductance of 17.0 +/- 3.2 pS, and a reversal potential of +7 +/- 4 mV (n = 9). The open probability increased e-fold per 44 +/- 10 mV depolarization (n = 5). Both channels were also observed in 110 mM Ca2+. Noise analysis of whole-cell currents indicates that approximately 100 6-pS channels and 30 17-pS channels are open per cell. These 6-pS and 17-pS channels may contribute to resting calcium entry in vascular smooth muscle cells.

A capacitative calcium current in cultured skeletal muscle cells is mediated by the calcium-specific leak channel and inhibited by dihydropyridine compounds

Calcium stores from cultured skeletal muscle cells were depleted using cyclopiazonic acid (CPA), a reversible inhibitor of Ca2+-ATPases at the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Store depletion led to activation of the calcium-specific leak channel, as assayed using single-channel patch clamp analysis and rates of manganese influx and quenching of fura-2 fluorescence. Two novel dihydropyridine compounds inhibited this single-channel leak channel activity, the resting and depletion-induced manganese influx, and refilling of the CPA-depleted intracellular calcium store. These compounds represent the first antagonists for a calcium leak channel and for a channel that mediates a capacitative current. The development of the skeletal muscle capacitative current was inhibited by genistein, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, but was not affected by okadaic acid, a phosphatase inhibitor, or econazole. Thus, the capacitative current in cultured skeletal muscle cells was mediated by the calcium leak channel and was inhibited by pharmacological antagonists and may provide a model system for uncovering the complete set of signals leading from store depletion to channel activation.

Voltage gated calcium channels in molluscs: classification, Ca2+ dependent inactivation, modulation and functional roles

Molluscan neurons and muscle cells express transient (T-type like) and sustained LVA calcium channels, as well as transient and sustained HVA channels. In addition weakly voltage sensitive calcium channels are observed. In a number of cases toxin or dihydropyridine sensitivity justifies classification of the HVA currents in L, N or P-type categories. In many cases, however, pharmacological characterization is still preliminary. Characterization of novel toxins from molluscivorous Conus snails may facilitate classification of molluscan calcium channels. Molluscan preparations have been very useful to study calcium dependent inactivation of calcium channels. Proposed mechanisms explain calcium dependent inactivation through direct interaction of Ca2+ with the channel, through dephosphorylation by calcium dependent phosphatases or through calcium dependent disruption of connections with the cytoskeleton. Transmitter modulation operating through various second messenger mediated pathways is well documented. In general, phosphorylation through PKA, cGMP dependent PK or PKC facilitates the calcium channels, while putative direct G-protein action inhibits the channels. Ca2+ and cGMP may inhibit the channels through activation of phosphodiesterases or phosphatases. Detailed evidence has been provided on the role of sustained LVA channels in pacemaking and the generation of firing patterns, and on the role of HVA channels in the dynamic changes in action potentials during spiking, the regulation of the release of transmitters and hormones, and the regulation of growth cone behavior and neurite outgrowth. The accessibility of molluscan preparations (e.g. the squid giant synapse for excitation release studies, Helisoma B5 neuron for neurite and synapse formation) and the large body of knowledge on electrophysiological properties and functional connections of identified molluscan neurons (e.g. sensory neurons, R15, egg laying hormone producing cells, etc.) creates valuable opportunities to increase the insight into the functional roles of calcium channels.

Independently gated multiple substates of an epithelial chloride-channel protein

We have purified a protein from Necturus maculosus gallbladder cells that forms chloride channels in an artificial membrane. The same protein apparently can form channels that are highly selective for chloride but can have conductances varying from 9 to about 150 pS. The high-conductance channels are blocked by the monoclonal antibody used to purify the protein, but this antibody has no effect on the 9-pS channels. The observation that gating of the low- and high-conductance states is independent and that the antibody affects only the latter has implications regarding the control of chloride conductance in cell membranes and the different types of channels described in those cells.

Increased activity of calcium leak channels in myotubes of Duchenne human and mdx mouse origin

Elevated free Ca2+ concentrations found in adult dystrophic muscle fibers result in enhanced protein degradation. Since the difference in concentrations may reflect differences in entry, Ca2+ leak channels in cultures of normal and Duchenne human myotubes, and normal and mdx murine myotubes, have been identified and characterized. The open probability of leak channels is markedly increased in dystrophic myotubes. Other channel properties, such as mean open times, single channel conductance, ion selectivity, and behavior in the presence of pharmacological agents, were similar among myotube types. Compared to the Ca2+ concentrations in normal human and normal mouse myotubes, intracellular resting free Ca2+ concentrations ([Ca2+]i) in myotubes of Duchenne and mdx origin were significantly higher at a time when dystrophin is first expressed in normal tissue. Taken together, these findings suggest that the increased open probability of Ca2+ leak channels contributes to the elevated free intracellular Ca2+ concentration in Duchenne human and mdx mouse myotubes.

Receptor-mediated presynaptic facilitation of quantal release of acetylcholine induced by pralidoxime in Aplysia

1. Possible interactions of contrathion (pralidoxime sulfomethylate), a reactivator of phosphorylated acetylcholinesterase (AChE), with the regulation of cholinergic transmission were investigated on an identified synapse in the buccal ganglion of Aplysia californica. 2. Transmitter release was evoked either by a presynaptic action potential or, under voltage clamp, by a long depolarization of the presynaptic cell. At concentrations higher than 10(-5) M, bath-applied contrathion decreased the amplitude of miniature postsynaptic currents and increased their decay time. At the same time, the quantal release of ACh was transiently facilitated. The facilitatory effect of contrathion was prevented by tubocurarine but not by atropine. Because in this preparation, these drugs block, respectively, the presynaptic nicotinic-like and muscarinic-like receptors involved in positive and negative feedback of ACh release, we proposed that contrathion activates presynaptic nicotinic-like receptors. 3. Differential desensitization of the presynaptic receptors is proposed to explain the transience of the facilitatory action of contrathion on ACh release. 4. The complexity of the synaptic action of contrathion raises the possibility that its therapeutic effects in AChE poisonings are not limited to AChE reactivation.

Patch cramming: monitoring intracellular messengers in intact cells with membrane patches containing detector ion channels

This paper introduces "patch cramming," a new procedure that utilizes an ion channel gated directly by an intracellular messenger molecule as a probe for detecting changes in the concentration of that molecule in an intact cell. A patch pipette containing the channel in a membrane patch is inserted into a recipient cell where the channel locally "senses" the intracellular messenger. In this study patches containing Ca2(+)-dependent K+ channels were inserted into Helix neurons, where they were activated by Ca2+ influx during trains of action potentials. Channels gated directly by other messengers, including cyclic nucleotides and IP3, have also been identified. Hence, by using detector channels with appropriate specificity, it may be possible to detect local intracellular fluctuations of these molecules.

Ca2+ channels from the sea urchin sperm plasma membrane

Ca2+ influx across the sea urchin sperm plasma membrane is a necessary step during the egg jelly-induced acrosome reaction. There is pharmacological evidence for the involvement of Ca2+ channels in this influx, but their presence has not been directly demonstrated because of the small size of this cell. Sea urchin sperm Ca2+ channels are being studied by fusing isolated plasma membranes into planar lipid bilayers. With this strategy, a Ca2+ channel has been detected with the following characteristics: (a) the channel exhibits a high mainstate conductance (gamma MS) of 172 pS in 50 mM CaCl2 solutions with voltage-dependent decaying to smaller conductance states at negative Em; (b) the channel is blocked by millimolar concentrations of Cd2+, Co2+, and La3+, which also inhibit the egg jelly-induced acrosome reaction; (c) the gamma MS conductance sequence for the tested divalent cations is the following: Ba2+ greater than Sr2+ greater than Ca2+; and (d) the channel discriminates poorly for divalent over monovalent cations (PCa/PNa = 5.9). The sperm Ca2+ channel gamma MS rectifies in symmetrical 10 mM CaCl2, having a maximal slope conductance value of 94 pS at +100 mV applied to the cis side of the bilayer. Under these conditions, a different single-channel activity of lesser conductance became apparent above the gamma MS current at positive membrane potentials. Also in 10 mM Ca2+ solutions, Mg2+ permeates through the main channel when added to the cis side with a PCa/PMg = 2.9, while it blocks when added to the trans side. In 50 mM Ca2+ solutions, the gamma MS open probability has values of 1.0 at voltages more positive than -40 mV and decreases at more negatives potentials, following a Boltzmann function with an E0.5 = -72 mV and an apparent gating charge value of 3.9. These results describe a novel Ca2(+)-selective channel, and suggest that the main channel works as a single multipore assembly.

Barium- and calcium-permeable channels open at negative membrane potentials in rat ventricular myocytes

Ca2+- and Ba2+-permeable channel activity from adult rat ventricular myocytes, spontaneously appeared in the three single-channel recording configurations: cell-attached, and excised inside-out or outside-out membrane patches. Single-channel activity was recorded at steady-state applied membrane potentials including the entire range of physiologic values, and displayed no "rundown" in excised patches. This activity occurred in irregular bursts separated by quiescent periods of 5 to 20 min in cell-attached membrane patches, whereas in excised patch experiments, this period was reduced to 2 to 10 min. During activity, a variety of kinetic behaviors could be observed with more or less complex gating patterns. Three conductance levels: 22, 45 and 78 pS were routinely observed in the same excised membrane patch, sometimes combining to give a larger level. These channels were significantly permeable to divalent cations and showed little or no permeability to potassium or sodium ions. The inorganic blockers of voltage-gated Ca channels, cobalt (2 mM), cadmium (0.5 mM) or nickel (3 mM), had no apparent effect on these spontaneous unitary currents carried by barium ions. Under 10(5) M Bay K 8644 or nitrendipine, the activity was clearly increased in about half of the tested excised inside-out membrane patches. Both dihydropyridines enhanced openings of the larger conductance level, which was only very occasionally seen under control conditions. When the single-channel activity became sustained under 5 x 10(-6) M Bay K 8644, it was possible to calculate the mean unitary current at different membrane potentials and show that the mean current value increased with membrane potential.

Voltage-activated K+ conductances in freshly isolated embryonic chicken osteoclasts

Patch-clamp measurements on freshly isolated embryonic chicken osteoclasts revealed three distinct types of voltage-dependent K+ conductance. The first type of conductance, present in 72% of the cells, activated at membrane potentials less negative than -30 to -20 mV and reached full activation at +40 mV. It activated with a delay, reached a peak value, and then inactivated with a time constant of approximately 1.5 s. Inactivation was complete or almost so. Recovery from inactivation, at -70 mV, had a time constant of roughly 1 s. The conductance could be blocked, at least partly, by 4 mM 4-aminopyridine. The second type of conductance (present in all cells) activated at membrane potentials more negative than -40 to -80 mV and reached full activation at -130 mV. Activation potential and maximal conductance were dependent on the extracellular K+ concentration. Inactivation of the conductance first became apparent at membrane potentials more negative than -100 mV and was a two-exponential process. The conductance could be blocked by external 5 mM Cs+ ions. The third type of conductance (present in all cells) activated at membrane potentials more positive than +30 mV. Generally, the conductance did not inactivate.

Voltage-independent barium-permeable channel activated in Lymnaea neurons by internal perfusion or patch excision

Isolated nerve cells from Lymnaea stagnalis were studied using the internal-perfusion and patch-clamp techniques. Patch excision frequently activated a voltage-independent Ba2+-permeable channel with a slope conductance of 27 pS at negative potentials (50 mM Ba2+). This channel is not seen in patches on healthy cells and, unlike the voltage-dependent Ca channel, is not labile in isolated patches. The activity of the channel in inside-out patches is unaffected by intracellular ATP, Ca2+ below 1 mM or the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase but is reversibly blocked by millimolar intracellular Ca2+ or Ba2+. The channel can be activated in on-cell patches by either internal perfusion with high Ca2+ or the long-term internal perfusion of low Ca2+ solutions not containing ATP. These channels may carry the inward Ca2+ current which causes a regenerative increase in intracellular Ca+ when snail neurons are perfused with high Ca2+ solutions. High internal Ca2+, or long periods of internal perfusion with ATP-free solutions, induces an increase in a resting (-50 mV) whole-cell Ba2+ conductance. This conductance can be turned off by returning the intracellular perfusate to a low Ca2+ solution containing ATP and Mg2+. The activity of this channel appears to have an opposite dependence on intracellular conditions to that of the voltage-dependent Ca channel.

Enterotoxin of Clostridium perfringens type A forms ion-permeable channels in a lipid bilayer membrane

The enterotoxin of Clostridium perfringens type A was found to form ion-permeable channels in a lipid bilayer. A patch clamp technique was used to detect channel activities in an asolectin bilayer with incorporated enterotoxin. About 20% of the lipid bilayer patches examined showed rectangular or stepwise shift of membrane current. The shifts indicated the gating of ion-permeable channels in the patches. The channels showed high conductance (40-450 pS), no rectification in current-voltage curves and occasional long-lasting events. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to the mechanism of action of the toxin.

Cardiac calcium channels in planar lipid bilayers. L-type channels and calcium-permeable channels open at negative membrane potentials

Planar lipid bilayer recordings were used to study Ca channels from bovine cardiac sarcolemmal membranes. Ca channel activity was recorded in the absence of nucleotides or soluble enzymes, over a range of membrane potentials and ionic conditions that cannot be achieved in intact cells. The dihydropyridine-sensitive L-type Ca channel, studied in the presence of Bay K 8644, was identified by a detailed comparison of its properties in artificial membranes and in intact cells. L-type Ca channels in bilayers showed voltage dependence of channel activation and inactivation, open and closed times, and single-channel conductances in Ba2+ and Ca2+ very similar to those found in cell-attached patch recordings. Open channels were blocked by micromolar concentrations of external Cd2+. In this cell-free system, channel activity tended to decrease during the course of an experiment, reminiscent of Ca2+ channel "rundown" in whole-cell and excised-patch recordings. A purely voltage-dependent component of inactivation was observed in the absence of Ca2+ stores or changes in intracellular Ca2+. Millimolar internal Ca2+ reduced unitary Ba2+ influx but did not greatly increase the rate or extent of inactivation or the rate of channel rundown. In symmetrical Ba2+ solutions, unitary conductance saturated as the Ba2+ concentration was increased up to 500 mM. The bilayer recordings also revealed activity of a novel Ca2+-permeable channel, termed "B-type" because it may contribute a steady background current at negative membrane potentials, which is distinct from L-type or T-type Ca channels previously reported. Unlike L-type channels, B-type channels have a small unitary Ba2+ conductance (7 pS), but do not discriminate between Ba2+ and Ca2+, show no obvious sensitivity to Bay K 8644, and do not run down. Unlike either L- or T-type channels, B-type channels did not require a depolarization for activation and displayed mean open times of greater than 100 ms.