Size characteristics of the solubilized saxitoxin receptor of the voltage-sensitive sodium channel from rat brain

Voltage gated sodium and calcium channels: Discovery, structure, function, and Pharmacology

Voltage-gated sodium channels initiate action potentials in nerve and muscle, and voltage-gated calcium channels couple depolarization of the plasma membrane to intracellular events such as secretion, contraction, synaptic transmission, and gene expression. In this Review and Perspective article, I summarize early work that led to identification, purification, functional reconstitution, and determination of the amino acid sequence of the protein subunits of sodium and calcium channels and showed that their pore-forming subunits are closely related. Decades of study by antibody mapping, site-directed mutagenesis, and electrophysiological recording led to detailed two-dimensional structure-function maps of the amino acid residues involved in voltage-dependent activation and inactivation, ion permeation and selectivity, and pharmacological modulation. Most recently, high-resolution three-dimensional structure determination by X-ray crystallography and cryogenic electron microscopy has revealed the structural basis for sodium and calcium channel function and pharmacological modulation at the atomic level. These studies now define the chemical basis for electrical signaling and provide templates for future development of new therapeutic agents for a range of neurological and cardiovascular diseases.

A governance of ion selectivity based on the occupancy of the "beacon" in one- and four-domain calcium and sodium channels

One of nature's exceptions was discovered when a Cav3 T-type channel was observed to switch phenotype from a calcium channel into a sodium channel by neutralizing an aspartate residue in the high field strength (HFS) +1 position within the ion selectivity filter. The HFS+1 site is dubbed a "beacon" for its location at the entryway just above the constricted, minimum radius of the HFS site's electronegative ring. A classification is proposed based on the occupancy of the HFS+1 "beacon" which correlates with the calcium- or sodium-selectivity phenotype. If the beacon is a glycine, or neutral, non-glycine residue, then the cation channel is calcium-selective or sodium-permeable, respectively (Class I). Occupancy of a beacon aspartate are calcium-selective channels (Class II) or possessing a strong calcium block (Class III). A residue lacking in position of the sequence alignment for the beacon are sodium channels (Class IV). The extent to which animal channels are sodium-selective is dictated in the occupancy of the HFS site with a lysine residue (Class III/IV). Governance involving the beacon solves the quandary the HFS site as a basis for ion selectivity, where an electronegative ring of glutamates at the HFS site generates a sodium-selective channel in one-domain channels but generates a calcium-selective channel in four-domain channels. Discovery of a splice variant in an exceptional channel revealed nature's exploits, highlighting the "beacon" as a principal determinant for calcium and sodium selectivity, encompassing known ion channels composed of one and four domains, from bacteria to animals.

Risks for public health related to the presence of tetrodotoxin (TTX) and TTX analogues in marine bivalves and gastropods

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) and its analogues are produced by marine bacteria and have been detected in marine bivalves and gastropods from European waters. The European Commission asked EFSA for a scientific opinion on the risks to public health related to the presence of TTX and TTX analogues in marine bivalves and gastropods. The Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain reviewed the available literature but did not find support for the minimum lethal dose for humans of 2 mg, mentioned in various reviews. Some human case reports describe serious effects at a dose of 0.2 mg, corresponding to 4 μg/kg body weight (bw). However, the uncertainties on the actual exposure in the studies preclude their use for derivation of an acute reference dose (ARfD). Instead, a group ARfD of 0.25 μg/kg bw, applying to TTX and its analogues, was derived based on a TTX dose of 25 μg/kg bw at which no apathy was observed in an acute oral study with mice, applying a standard uncertainty factor of 100. Estimated relative potencies for analogues are lower than that of TTX but are associated with a high degree of uncertainty. Based on the occurrence data submitted to EFSA and reported consumption days only, average and P95 exposures of 0.00-0.09 and 0.00-0.03 μg/kg bw, respectively, were calculated. Using a large portion size of 400 g bivalves and P95 occurrence levels of TTX, with exception of oysters, the exposure was below the group ARfD in all consumer groups. A concentration below 44 μg TTX equivalents/kg shellfish meat, based on a large portion size of 400 g, was considered not to result in adverse effects in humans. Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS) methods are the most suitable for identification and quantification of TTX and its analogues, with LOQs between 1 and 25 μg/kg.

[3H]phenamil binding protein of the renal epithelium Na+ channel. Purification, affinity labeling, and functional reconstitution

This paper describes a large-scale purification procedure of the amiloride binding component of the epithelium Na+ channel. [3H]Phenamil was used as a labeled ligand to follow the purification. The first two steps are identical with those previously described [Barbry, P., Chassande, O., Vigne, P., Frelin, C., Ellory, C., Cragoe, E. J., Jr., & Lazdunski, M. (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 84, 4836-4840]. A third step was a hydroxyapatite column. The purified material consisted of a homodimer of two 88-kDa proteins that migrated anomalously in SDS-PAGE to give an apparent Mr of 105,000. Deglycosylation by treatment with neuraminidase and endoglycosidase F or with neuraminidase and glycopeptidase F indicated that less than 5% of the mass of the native receptor was carbohydrate. Sedimentation analysis of the purified Na+ channel in H2O and D2O sucrose gradients and gel filtration experiments led to an estimated molecular weight of the [3H]phenamil receptor protein-detergent-phospholipid complex of 288,000 and of the native [3H]phenamil receptor protein of 158,000. [3H]Br-benzamil is another labeled derivative of amiloride that recognized binding sites that had the same pharmacological properties as [3H]phenamil binding sites and that copurified with them. Upon irradiation of kidney membranes, [3H]Br-benzamil incorporated specifically into a 185-kDa polypeptide chain under nonreducing electrophoretic conditions and a 105-kDa protein under reducing conditions. The same labeling pattern was observed at the different steps of the purification. Reconstitution of the purified phenamil receptor into large unilamellar vesicles was carried out. A low but significant phenamil- and amiloride-sensitive electrogenic Na+ transport was observed.

The sodium channel of excitable and non-excitable cells

Excitation and conduction in the majority of excitable cells, as originally described in the squid axon, are initiated by a transient and highly selective increase of the membrane Na conductance, which allows this ion to move passively down its electrochemical gradient (Hodgkin & Katz, 1949; Hodgkin & Huxley, 1952). The term ‘Na channel’ was introduced to describe the mechanism involved in this conductance change (Hodgkin & Keynes, 1955).

Characterization, solubilization, affinity labeling and purification of the cardiac Na+ channel using Tityus toxin gamma

Saturable, high-affinity binding of iodinated toxin gamma from Tityus serrulatus scorpion venom (TiTx gamma) to Na+ channel receptor was identified in sarcolemma membrane of chick heart. A binding capacity of 450-600 fmol/mg of protein was found similar to that of tetrodotoxin-binding component. The enrichment of these membrane-bound toxin binding sites follows that of other sarcolemma markers. Kinetic data and displacement of 125I-TiTx gamma from its binding sites by unlabeled TiTx gamma gave an equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd) of 1-3 pM. The gating component and the selectivity filter of the voltage-sensitive Na+ channel, identified as binding sites of TiTx gamma and of tetrodotoxin respectively, have been efficiently solubilized with Nonidet P-40. Purification was achieved by ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex A-25, affinity chromatography on wheat-germ-agglutinin-Sepharose and sucrose density gradient centrifugation. An enrichment of 1400-fold from the original detergent extract was measured for both toxin binding sites (1120-1230 pmol/mg of protein). Sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis reveals a single large polypeptide component of Mr230000-270000. The purified material exhibits an apparent sedimentation coefficient of 8.8S. Covalent cross-linking of 125I-TiTx gamma to its membrane-embedded cardiac receptor shows that the cross-linked material, solubilized and purified by the same procedure comprises a single polypeptide chain of the same Mr of 230000-270000. Furthermore, as seen for Electrophorus electricus electroplax and rat brain, the tetrodotoxin-binding component and the TiTx gamma-binding component are carried by the same polypeptide chain. The functional Na+ channel might be an oligomer of this subunit of Mr23000-270000.

The molecular basis of neuronal excitability

Neurons process and transmit information in the form of electrical signals. Their electrical excitability is due to the presence of voltage-sensitive ion channels in the neuronal plasma membrane. In recent years, the voltage-sensitive sodium channel of mammalian brain has become the first of these important neuronal components to be studied at the molecular level. This article describes the distribution of sodium channels among the functional compartments of the neuron and reviews work leading to the identification, purification, and characterization of this membrane glycoprotein.

Photoaffinity labeling of alpha- and beta- scorpion toxin receptors associated with rat brain sodium channel

Azido nitrophenylaminoacetyl [125I]iodo derivative of toxin II from Centruroides suffusus suffusus, a beta-toxin, and azido nitrophenylaminoacetyl [125I]iodo derivative of toxin V from Leiurus quinquestriatus quinquestriatus, an alpha-toxin, have been covalently linked after binding to their receptor sites that are related to the voltage sensitive sodium channel present in rat brain synaptosomes. Both derivatives labeled two polypeptides of 253000 +/- 20000 and 35000 +/- 2000 mol. wt. Labeling was blocked for each derivative by a large excess of the corresponding native toxin but no cross inhibition was obtained. These results suggest that both alpha - and beta - scorpion toxin receptors are located on or near the same two membrane polypeptides which may be part of the voltage dependent sodium channel.

Protein components of the purified sodium channel from rat skeletal muscle sarcolemma

Sensitive detection systems have been used to study the protein components of the sodium channel purified from rat skeletal muscle sarcolemma. This functional, purified sodium channel contains at least three subunits on 7-20% gradient sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis: a large glycoprotein which migrates anomalously in the high-molecular-weight range, a 45,000 molecular weight polypeptide, and a third protein often seen as a doublet at 38,000. The large glycoprotein runs as a diffuse band and stains very poorly with Coomassie blue, but is adequately visualized with silver staining or iodination followed by autoradiography. This glycoprotein exhibits anomalous electrophoretic behavior in SDS-polyacrylamide gels. The apparent molecular weight of the center of the band varies from approximately 230,000 on 13% acrylamide gels to approximately 130,000 on 5% gels; on 7-20% gradient gels a value of 160,000 is found. Plots of relative migration versus gel concentration suggest an unusually high apparent free solution mobility. Lectin binding to purified channel peptides separated by gel electrophoresis indicates that the large glycoprotein is the only subunit that binds either concanavalin A or wheat germ agglutinin, and this component has high binding capacity for both lectins. The smaller channel components run consistently at 45,000 and 38,000 molecular weight in a variety of gel systems and do not appear to be glycosylated.

Determination of the molecular size of the nitrendipine-sensitive Ca2+ channel by radiation inactivation

The molecular size of the [3H] nitrendipine receptor of transverse tubules prepared from rabbit skeletal muscle and from rat cortex synaptic membranes have been investigated. Radiation inactivation of the specific binding of [3H] nitrendipine was consistent with Mr equals 210 000 +/- 20,000 for the receptor in each membrane preparation indicating a common size for the [3H] nitrendipine receptor.

Molecular Properties of neurotoxin receptors sites associated with sodium channels from mammalian brain

Neurotoxins that act at specific receptor sites on voltage-sensitive sodium channels have been used as molecular probes to identify and purify protein components of sodium channels from mammalian brain. Photoreactive derivatives of scorpion toxin have been prepared and used to covalently label sodium channels in intact synaptosomes. Two polypeptides, alpha with Mr approximately 270,000 and beta with Mr approximately 38,000, are specifically labeled indicating that they are components of the scorpion toxin receptor site on the sodium channel. The sodium channel can be solubilized with retention of specific binding of [3H] saxitoxin using nonionic detergents such as Triton X-100. The solubilized saxitoxin receptor has molecular weight of 316,000 +/- 63,000 and binds 0.9 g of Triton X-100 and phospholipid per g of protein. The solubilized receptor can be purified 750-fold by ion exchange chromatography, wheat germ lectin/Sepharose chromatography and sucrose gradient sedimentation to a final specific activity of 1488 pmol/mg. Analysis of the polypeptide chain composition of the most highly purified fractions indicates that alpha and beta comprise 65% of the protein of these fractions and are only the polypeptides whose presence correlates with saxitoxin binding activity. These studies lead to a working hypothesis of sodium channel structure in which the intact channel is comprised of a complex with Mr of approximately 316,000 containing one mole of alpha (Mr approximately 270,000) and one to three moles of beta (Mr approximately 38,000).

Estimate of the molecular weight of the sarcolemmal sodium channel using H2O-D2O centrifugation

The sodium channel saxitoxin binding component from rat sarcolemma was solubilized with NP-40 and centrifuged on sucrose gradients constructed in either D2O or H2O. When compared with a series of standard proteins the sedimentation behavior of the solubilized channel complex changed from an apparent S20,w of 9.1 in H2O to 6.1 in D2O. From these observations, a true partial specific volume of 0.83 ml/g was calculated for the complex. A Stokes radius of 8.6 nm was estimated from Sepharose 6-B chromatography in NP-40. The calculated protein molecular weight of the lipid-protein-detergent complex based on these data is 560,000. The complex contains about 56% protein, and the calculated molecular weight of this component is 314,000 if a v for the protein of 0.74 ml/g is assumed.