Glutathione accelerates sodium channel inactivation in excised rat axonal membrane patches

The effects of glutathione were studied on the gating behaviour of sodium channels in membrane patches of rat axons. Depolarizing pulses from –120 to –40 mV elicited sodium currents of up to 500 pA, indicating the simultaneous activation of up to 250 sodium channels. Inactivation of these channels in the excised, inside-out configuration was fitted by two time constants ( h1=0.81 ms; h2= 5.03 ms) and open time histograms at 0 mV revealed a biexponential distribution of channel openings ( short=0.28 ms; long=3.68 ms). Both, the slow time constant of inactivation and the long lasting single channel openings disappeared after addition of the reducing agent glutathione (2–5 mM) to the bathing solution. Sodium channels of excised patches with glutathione present on the cytoplasmatic face of the membrane had inactivation kinetics similar to channels recorded in the cell-attached configuration. These observations indicate that redox processes may contribute to the gating of axonal sodium channels

Autism as a disorder of neural information processing: directions for research and targets for therapy

The broad variation in phenotypes and severities within autism spectrum disorders suggests the involvement of multiple predisposing factors, interacting in complex ways with normal developmental courses and gradients. Identification of these factors, and the common developmental path into which theyfeed, is hampered bythe large degrees of convergence from causal factors to altered brain development, and divergence from abnormal brain development into altered cognition and behaviour. Genetic, neurochemical, neuroimaging and behavioural findings on autism, as well as studies of normal development and of genetic syndromes that share symptoms with autism, offer hypotheses as to the nature of causal factors and their possible effects on the structure and dynamics of neural systems. Such alterations in neural properties may in turn perturb activity-dependent development, giving rise to a complex behavioural syndrome many steps removed from the root causes. Animal models based on genetic, neurochemical, neurophysiological, and behavioural manipulations offer the possibility of exploring these developmental processes in detail, as do human studies addressing endophenotypes beyond the diagnosis itself

Regulation of Na(+) channel inactivation by the DIII and DIV voltage-sensing domains.

Functional eukaryotic voltage-gated Na(+) (NaV) channels comprise four domains (DI-DIV), each containing six membrane-spanning segments (S1-S6). Voltage sensing is accomplished by the first four membrane-spanning segments (S1-S4), which together form a voltage-sensing domain (VSD). A critical NaV channel gating process, inactivation, has previously been linked to activation of the VSDs in DIII and DIV. Here, we probe this interaction by using voltage-clamp fluorometry to observe VSD kinetics in the presence of mutations at locations that have been shown to impair NaV channel inactivation. These locations include the DIII-DIV linker, the DIII S4-S5 linker, and the DIV S4-S5 linker. Our results show that, within the 10-ms timeframe of fast inactivation, the DIV-VSD is the primary regulator of inactivation. However, after longer 100-ms pulses, the DIII-DIV linker slows DIII-VSD deactivation, and the rate of DIII deactivation correlates strongly with the rate of recovery from inactivation. Our results imply that, over the course of an action potential, DIV-VSDs regulate the onset of fast inactivation while DIII-VSDs determine its recovery

Rapid Internalization of the Oncogenic K+ Channel KV10.1

KV10.1 is a mammalian brain voltage-gated potassium channel whose ectopic expression outside of the brain has been proven relevant for tumor biology. Promotion of cancer cell proliferation by KV10.1 depends largely on ion flow, but some oncogenic properties remain in the absence of ion permeation. Additionally, KV10.1 surface populations are small compared to large intracellular pools. Control of protein turnover within cells is key to both cellular plasticity and homeostasis, and therefore we set out to analyze how endocytic trafficking participates in controlling KV10.1 intracellular distribution and life cycle. To follow plasma membrane KV10.1 selectively, we generated a modified channel of displaying an extracellular affinity tag for surface labeling by α-bungarotoxin. This modification only minimally affected KV10.1 electrophysiological properties. Using a combination of microscopy and biochemistry techniques, we show that KV10.1 is constitutively internalized involving at least two distinct pathways of endocytosis and mainly sorted to lysosomes. This occurs at a relatively fast rate. Simultaneously, recycling seems to contribute to maintain basal KV10.1 surface levels. Brief KV10.1 surface half-life and rapid lysosomal targeting is a relevant factor to be taken into account for potential drug delivery and targeting strategies directed against KV10.1 on tumor cells

Calmodulin Interaction with hEAG1 Visualized by FRET Microscopy

BACKGROUND: Ca(2+)-mediated regulation of ion channels provides a link between intracellular signaling pathways and membrane electrical activity. Intracellular Ca(2+) inhibits the voltage-gated potassium channel EAG1 through the direct binding of calmodulin (CaM). Three CaM binding sites (BD-C1: 674-683, BD-C2: 711-721, BD-N: 151-165) have been identified in a peptide screen and were proposed to mediate binding. The participation of the three sites in CaM binding to the native channel, however, remains unclear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we studied the binding of Ca(2+)/CaM to the EAG channel by visualizing the interaction between YFP-labeled CaM and Cerulean-labeled hEAG1 in mammalian cells by FRET. The results of our cellular approach substantiate that two CaM binding sites are predominantly involved; the high-affinity 1-8-14 based CaM binding domain in the N-terminus and the second C-terminal binding domain BD-C2. Mutations at these sites completely abolished CaM binding to hEAG1. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We demonstrated that the BD-N and BD-C2 binding domains are sufficient for CaM binding to the native channel, and, therefore, that BD-C1 is unable to bind CaM independently

The HSP90 Inhibitor NVP-AUY922 Radiosensitizes by Abrogation of Homologous Recombination Resulting in Mitotic Entry with Unresolved DNA Damage

Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) is a molecular chaperone responsible for the conformational maintenance of a number of client proteins that play key roles in cell cycle arrest, DNA damage repair and apoptosis following radiation. HSP90 inhibitors exhibit antitumor activity by modulating the stabilisation and activation of HSP90 client proteins. We sought to evaluate NVP-AUY922, the most potent HSP90 inhibitor yet reported, in preclinical radiosensitization studies.NVP-AUY922 potently radiosensitized cells in vitro at low nanomolar concentrations with a concurrent depletion of radioresistance-linked client proteins. Radiosensitization by NVP-AUY922 was verified for the first time in vivo in a human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma xenograft model in athymic mice, as measured by delayed tumor growth and increased surrogate end-point survival (p = <0.0001). NVP-AUY922 was shown to ubiquitously inhibit resolution of dsDNA damage repair correlating to delayed Rad51 foci formation in all cell lines tested. Additionally, NVP-AUY922 induced a stalled mitotic phenotype, in a cell line-dependent manner, in HeLa and HN5 cell lines irrespective of radiation exposure. Cell cycle analysis indicated that NVP-AUY922 induced aberrant mitotic entry in all cell lines tested in the presence of radiation-induced DNA damage due to ubiquitous CHK1 depletion, but resultant downstream cell cycle effects were cell line dependent.These results identify NVP-AUY922 as the most potent HSP90-mediated radiosensitizer yet reported in vitro, and for the first time validate it in a clinically relevant in vivo model. Mechanistic analysis at clinically achievable concentrations demonstrated that radiosensitization is mediated by the combinatorial inhibition of cell growth and survival pathways, ubiquitous delay in Rad51-mediated homologous recombination and CHK1-mediated G(2)/M arrest, but that the contribution of cell cycle perturbation to radiosensitization may be cell line specific