Reconstitution of the ATP-sensitive potassium channel of skeletal muscle. Activation by a G protein-dependent process

Potassium channels inhibited by adenosine-5'-trisphosphate, K(ATP), found in the transverse tubular membrane of rabbit skeletal muscle were studied using the planar bilayer recording technique. In addition to the single-channel properties of K(ATP) we report its regulation of Mg2+ and by the guanosine-5'-trisphosphate analogue, GTP-y(gamma)-S. The K(ATP) channel (a) has a conductance of 67 pS in 250 mM internal, 50 mM external KCl, and rectifies weakly at holding potentials more positive than 50 mV, (b) is not activated by internal Ca2+ or membrane depolarization, (c) has a permeability ratio PK/PNa greater than 50, and (d) is inhibited by millimolar internal ATP. Activity of K(ATP), measured as open channel probability as a function of time, was unstable at all holding potentials and decreases continuously within a few minutes after a recording is initiated. After a decrease in activity, GTP-y-S (100 microM) added to the internal side reactivated K(ATP) channels but only transiently. In the presence of internal 1 mM Mg2+, GTP-y-S produced a sustained reactivation lasting 20-45 min. Incubation of purified t-tubule vesicles with AlF4 increased the activity of K(ATP) channels, mimicking the effect of GTP-y-S. The effect of AlF4 and the requirement of GTP-y-S plus Mg2+ for sustained channel activation suggests that a nucleotide-binding G protein regulates ATP-sensitive K channels in the t-tuble membrane of rabbit skeletal muscle.

External ATP triggers a biphasic activation process of a calcium-dependent K+ channel in cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells

We have used the patch-clamp method in order to investigate the single-channel events underlying the effect of external ATP on the potassium permeability of bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAE). The results obtained from cell-attached and inside-out experiments led first to conclude that BAE cells possess an inward rectifying potassium channel activated by internal calcium at micromolar concentrations. The channel conductance for inward currents was estimated at 40 pS in symmetrical 200 mM KCl and the open-channel probability was found to be voltage insensitive within the membrane voltage range -50 to -100 mV. Based on results obtained in the cell-attached configuration, it could next be established that external ATP and ADP at micromolar concentrations could trigger, via the stimulation of P2 purinergic receptors, a time variable activation process of the observed calcium-dependent potassium channel. This activation process was found to occur in a biphasic manner with an initial phase independent of the presence of calcium in the cell bathing medium. The second phase which could be blocked by calcium channel blockers such as Co2+ or La3+ required, however, the presence of external calcium and could be abolished by depolarizing the cells using high K+ external solutions. Another important aspect related to this phenomenon was the observation that removing ATP from the external medium during the second phase led to a complete abolition of the associated calcium-dependent potassium channel activation process. It is suggested from these results that the action of ATP on the potassium permeability of BAE cells is related to a second messenger mediated release of calcium from internal calcium stores coupled to an ATP-dependent calcium influx abolished at depolarizing voltages.

Single-channel analysis of a K channel at basolateral membrane of rabbit proximal convoluted tubule

The basolateral membrane of the rabbit proximal convoluted tubule (PCT) is known to be largely permeable to K ions. The patch-clamp technique was used to investigate the molecular basis of this K permeability. At room temperature and with a high-K solution (127 mM) in both the bathing medium and the patch pipette, current jumps associated with an inward-rectifying channel could be detected in every active cell-attached experiment. When the K concentration in the pipette was changed from 200 to 5 mM KCl (NaCl replacement), the single-channel conductance for inward currents changed from 54 to 10 pS. The observed shift in the zero current potential measured as a function of the patch pipette K concentration could be fitted using the Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz equation with a permeability ratio PNa/PK = 0.06. The channel was found to be moderately voltage dependent (e-fold per 56 mV depolarization). For instance, the open-channel probability (Po) increased from 0.06 to 0.16 following a membrane depolarization from -50 to +50 mV. A time interval distribution analysis showed for the open state a dominant single time constant of 14 and 10 ms at 50 and -50 mV, respectively. Two time constants equal to 1 (flickering) and 26 ms at +50 mV and to 0.6 and 300 ms at -50 mV were obtained for the closed-state interval distribution. Based on this analysis, it was concluded that the decrease of Po at negative potentials was due more to the appearance of prolonged silent periods than from a change in the channel mean open time.

Oscillatory activation of calcium-dependent potassium channels in HeLa cells induced by histamine H1 receptor stimulation: a single-channel study

We have used the patch-clamp method (O.P. Hamill et al., Pfluegers Arch., 391:85-100, 1981) in order to investigate the activation pattern of a calcium-dependent potassium channel following H1 receptor stimulation in HeLa cells. Our results essentially indicate that the stimulation of H1 receptors by exogenous histamine at concentrations greater than 1 microM induces an oscillatory activation pattern of calcium-dependent potassium channels characterized by the occurrence of channel current bursts separated by long silent periods. It was also found that the occurrence of these bursts could be directly correlated with transmembrane potential oscillations, the latter being the resulting effect of the calcium-dependent potassium channel synchronous openings. In addition, the cyclic activation of the calcium-dependent potassium channels could be initiated by the addition of histamine to a calcium-free external medium, indicating that the stimulation of the H1 receptors in HeLa cells is mainly related to the release of calcium from internal stores. Finally, the membrane-permeable cyclic AMP analog dibutyryl cyclic AMP was found to be ineffective in initiating single-channel events such as those triggered by exogenous histamine. It is proposed that the oscillatory activation of the calcium-dependent potassium channels in HeLa cells results from a repetitive transient increase in cytosolic free calcium concentration consequent to the H1 receptor stimulation.

Fixed charges of the heart muscle interstitium

The interstitium of the heart muscle is primarily composed of ground substance. The glycoproteins and proteoglycans that formed the ground substance bore negative charges at neutral pH like the glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans of the water-rich phase of the interstitium. Microelectrodes were used to look for the existence of an electrical potential between the interstitium of the rabbit papillary muscle and an ambient medium. Evidence is presented for the existence of such an electrical potential. When the ambient solution was a Krebs solution, this potential was evaluated at -5.7 mV. This electrical potential is dependent on the filling solution of the microelectrodes and on the ambient medium; in rabbit serum, the electrical potential diminished to -0.6 mV. Assuming that this potential is a measure of the Donnan potential, the Cl and Na activities in the interstitium were evaluated to 76 and 135 mM when the rabbit papillary muscle was superfused with a Kreb's solution.