A mitochondrial protein fraction catalyzing transport of the K+ analog T1+

Identification of novel KCNQ4 openers by a high-throughput fluorescence-based thallium flux assay

To develop a real-time thallium flux assay for high-throughput screening (HTS) of human KCNQ4 (Kv7.4) potassium channel openers, we used CHO-K1 cells stably expressing human KCNQ4 channel protein and a thallium-sensitive dye based on the permeability of thallium through potassium channels. The electrophysiological and pharmacological properties of the cell line expressing the KCNQ4 protein were found to be in agreement with that reported elsewhere. The EC(50) values of the positive control compound (retigabine) determined by the thallium and (86)rubidium flux assays were comparable to and consistent with those documented in the literature. Signal-to-background (S/B) ratio and Z factor of the thallium influx assay system were assessed to be 8.82 and 0.63, respectively. In a large-scale screening of 98,960 synthetic and natural compounds using the thallium influx assay, 76 compounds displayed consistent KCNQ4 activation, and of these 6 compounds demonstrated EC(50) values of less than 20 μmol/L and 2 demonstrated EC(50) values of less than 1 μmol/L. Taken together, the fluorescence-based thallium flux assay is a highly efficient, automatable, and robust tool to screen potential KCNQ4 openers. This approach may also be expanded to identify and evaluate potential modulators of other potassium channels.

A novel mitochondrial K(ATP) channel assay

RATIONALE

The mitochondrial ATP sensitive potassium channel (mK(ATP)) is implicated in cardioprotection by ischemic preconditioning (IPC), but the molecular identity of the channel remains controversial. The validity of current methods to assay mK(ATP) activity is disputed.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to develop novel methods to assay mK(ATP) activity and its regulation.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Using a thallium (Tl(+))-sensitive fluorophore, we developed a novel Tl(+) flux based assay for mK(ATP) activity, and used this assay probe several aspects of mK(ATP) function. The following key observations were made. (1) Time-dependent run down of mK(ATP) activity was reversed by phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)). (2) Dose responses of mK(ATP) to nucleotides revealed a UDP EC(50) of approximately 20 micromol/L and an ATP IC(50) of approximately 5 micromol/L. (3) The antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac) inhibited mK(ATP) (IC(50)=2.4 micromol/L). Fluoxetine also blocked cardioprotection triggered by IPC, but did not block protection triggered by a mK(ATP)-independent stimulus. The related antidepressant zimelidine was without effect on either mK(ATP) or IPC.

CONCLUSIONS

The Tl(+) flux mK(ATP) assay was validated by correlation with a classical mK(ATP) channel osmotic swelling assay (R(2)=0.855). The pharmacological profile of mK(ATP) (response to ATP, UDP, PIP(2), and fluoxetine) is consistent with that of an inward rectifying K(+) channel (K(IR)) and is somewhat closer to that of the K(IR)6.2 than the K(IR)6.1 isoform. The effect of fluoxetine on mK(ATP)-dependent cardioprotection has implications for the growing use of antidepressants in patients who may benefit from preconditioning.

Increase in the toxic effects of Tl+ on isolated rat liver mitochondria in the presence of nonactin

The effects of Tl(+) ions on isolated rat liver mitochondria were studied in the presence of nonactin, a cyclic ionophore. Nonenergized rat liver mitochondria were increasingly swollen at an elevated concentration of Tl(+) in the 160 mOsm medium containing 0-150 mM sucrose and 0-75 mM TlNO(3) or 0-50 mM Tl acetate. On the contrary, mitochondria in experiments with nonactin were contracted in the medium with 5-25 mM Tl(+) and were swollen only in the medium with 50-75 mM TlNO(3) or 50 mM Tl acetate. State 4 respiration along with swelling of succinate-energized mitochondria followed contraction after their deenergization was further enhanced at increasing concentration of Tl acetate in a medium containing nonactin. Regardless of the presence of nonactin, State 3 and 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP)-stimulated respiration and the monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity were not affected in the medium with 0-25 mM Tl acetate and sucrose. DNP-stimulated respiration decreased and the MAO activity somewhat increased in the medium containing 50 mM Tl acetate and nonactin. Uptake of (86)Rb(+) by energized mitochondria in the presence of valinomycin was considerably decreased when Tl(+) and nonactin were simultaneously present in the medium. An increase of the toxic effect of Tl(+) on rat liver mitochondria in the presence of nonactin is accounted for by disruption of mitochondria due to their more extensive swelling and uncoupling of mitochondria, resulting in the stimulation of State 4 and depletion of their energy store.

Thallium Induces Apoptosis in Jurkat Cells

Thallium induces swelling in mitochondria and apoptosis in Jurkat cells. Both the swelling and the apoptosis are inhibited by means of cyclosporine A (CsA), thus suggesting that these phenomena result from the opening of the membrane transition pore (MTP) in mitochondria. Therefore, apoptosis can be explained as due to the opening of the MTP in mitochondria.

A thallium-sensitive, fluorescence-based assay for detecting and characterizing potassium channel modulators in mammalian cells

Potassium channels have been identified as targets for a large number of therapeutic indications. The ability to use a high-throughput functional assay for the detection and characterization of small-molecule modulators of potassium channels is very desirable. However, present techniques capable of screening very large chemical libraries are limited in terms of data quality, temporal resolution, ease of use, and requirements for specialized instrumentation. To address these issues, the authors have developed a fluorescence-based thallium flux assay. This assay is capable of detecting modulators of both voltage and ligand-gated potassium channels expressed in mammalian cells. The thallium flux assay can use instruments standard to most high-throughput screening laboratories, and using such equipment has been successfully employed to screen large chemical libraries consisting of hundreds of thousands of compounds.

Anion channels of the inner membrane of mammalian and yeast mitochondria

The inner membrane of yeast and mammalian mitochondria has been studied in situ with a patch clamp electrode. Anion channels were found in both cases, although their behavior and regulation are different. In mammalian mitochondria, the principal channel is of around 100 pS conductance and opens mainly under depolarized membrane potentials. As no physiological compound able to alter its peculiar voltage dependence has yet been found, it is proposed that this channel may serve as a safeguard mechanism for recharging the mitochondrial membrane potential. Two other anion channels, each with a distinct conductance (one of approx. 45 pS, the second of at least a tenfold higher value) and kinetics are harbored in the yeast inner membrane. Matrix ATP was found to interact with both, but with a different mechanism. It is proposed that the 45 pS channel may be involved in the homeostatic mechanism of mitochondrial volume.

Electrophysiology of the inner mitochondrial membrane

The application of electrophysiological techniques to mitochondrial membranes has allowed the observation and partial characterization of several ion channels, including an ATP-sensitive K(+)-selective one, a high-conductance "megachannel", a 107 pS anionic channel and three others studied at alkaline pH's. A reliable correlation with the results of non-electrophysiological studies has been obtained so far only for the first two cases. Activities presumed to be associated with the Ca2+ uniporter and with the adenine nucleotide translocator, as well as the presence of various other conductances have also been reported. The review summarizes the main properties of these pores and their possible relationship to permeation pathways identified in biochemical studies.

Cation transport systems in mitochondria: Na+ and K+ uniports and exchangers

It is now well established that mitochondria contain three antiporters that transport monovalent cations. A latent, allosterically regulated K+/H+ antiport appears to serve as a cation-extruding device that helps maintain mitochondrial volume homeostasis. An apparently unregulated Na+/H+ antiport keeps matrix [Na+] low and the Na(+)-gradient equal to the H(+)-gradient. A Na+/Ca2+ antiport provides a Ca(2+)-extruding mechanism that permits the mitochondrion to regulate matrix [Ca2+] by balancing Ca2+ efflux against influx on the Ca(2+)-uniport. All three antiports have well-defined physiological roles and their molecular properties and regulatory features are now being determined. Mitochondria also contain monovalent cation uniports, such as the recently described ATP- and glibenclamide-sensitive K+ channel and ruthenium red-sensitive uniports for Na+ and K+. A physiological role of such uniports has not been established and their properties are just beginning to be defined.

Patch clamp analysis of a partially purified ion channel from rat liver mitochondria

A protein fraction isolated from detergent-solubilized mitochondrial membranes by affinity chromatography on immobilized quinine was reconstituted into phospholipid vesicles by detergent dialysis. Vesicles were fused to a diameter of 10 microns or larger by dehydration and rehydration. Patch clamp recordings carried out in detached mode with a symmetrical solution of 150 mM KCl, 5 mM HEPES, and 0.1 mM CaCl2 revealed conductance increments of 140 pS. Transitions of 40 pS were less frequently observed. Control vesicles which lacked protein showed no channel activity. The probability for the 140 pS channel to be open increased with increasing voltage in the range from 20 to 80 mV (positive potentials relative to what was the vesicle interior prior to excision), while the single channel conductance remained essentially constant. The 140 pS channel did not open at negative voltages. The voltage dependence suggests asymmetric incorporation of the 140 pS channel into vesicle membranes during reconstitution.