A novel phasic contraction induced by dithiothreitol in frog skeletal muscle

How many cysteine residues regulate ryanodine receptor channel activity?

RyRs contain 80-100 cysteine residues per subunit, of which approximately 25% are free for covalent modification, while the remainder are either modified or form intraprotein disulfides. Oxidizing and nitrosylating reagents have several effects on single RyR channel activity, which depend on the type of modifying reagent, the isoform of the RyR, and ligands bound to the channel. We present evidence here for four major classes of functional cysteine residues associated with RyR channels, i.e., two classes with free -SH groups that either activate or inhibit channels when covalently modified and two classes, with endogenous modification, that either inhibit or activate. Single-channel characteristics provide evidence for four discrete responses within the first activating class, two responses within the second inhibiting class and two types of response within the third endogenously modified class. All but one of these changes in channel properties depend on residues located on the cytoplasmic or membrane-associated domains of the RyR; the remaining response is confined to the luminal domain. If it is assumed that each type of response depends on a separate subclass of cysteine residue and that each subclass contains a minimum of one cysteine per subunit, our results suggest that there are at least nine cysteine residues per subunit with functional connections to the gating mechanism of RyR channels. These cysteine residues may be selectively modified under physiological and pathological conditions to regulate Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and contraction.

Oxidation and reduction of pig skeletal muscle ryanodine receptors

Time-dependent effects of cysteine modification were compared in skeletal ryanodine receptors (RyRs) from normal pigs and RyR(MH) (Arg(615) to Cys(615)) from pigs susceptible to malignant hyperthermia, using the oxidizing reagents 4,4'-dithiodipyridine (4, 4'-DTDP) and 5,5'-dithio-bis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) or the reducing agent dithiothreitol (DTT). Normal and RyR(MH) channels responded similarly to all reagents. DTNB (1 mM), either cytoplasmic (cis) or luminal (trans), or 1 mM 4,4'-DTDP (cis) activated RyRs, introducing an additional long open time constant. 4,4'-DTDP (cis), but not DTNB, inhibited channels after >5 min. Activation and inhibition were relieved by DTT (1-10 mM). DTT (10 mM, cytoplasmic or luminal), without oxidants, activated RyRs, and activation reversed with 1 mM DTNB. Control RyR activity was maintained with 1 mM DTNB and 10 mM DTT present on the same or opposite sides of the bilayer. We suggest that 1) 4,4'-DTDP and DTNB covalently modify RyRs by oxidizing activating or inhibiting thiol groups; 2) a modified thiol depresses mammalian skeletal RyR activity under control conditions; 3) both the activating thiols and the modified thiols, accessible from either cytoplasm or lumen, reside in the transmembrane region; 4) some cardiac sulfhydryls are unavailable in skeletal RyRs; and 5) Cys(615) in RyR(MH) is functionally unimportant in redox cycling.