Oleg Zaika

Regulation of neural KCNQ channels: signalling pathways, structural motifs and functional implications

Neural M‐type (KCNQ/Kv7) K+ channels control somatic excitability, bursting and neurotransmitter release throughout the nervous system. Their activity is regulated by multiple signalling pathways. In superior cervical ganglion sympathetic neurons, muscarinic M1, angiotensin II AT1, bradykinin B2 and purinergic P2Y agonists suppress M current (IM). Probes of PLC activity show agonists of all four receptors to induce robust PIP2 hydrolysis. We have grouped these receptors into two related modes of action. One mode involves depletion of phosphatidylinositol 4,5‐bisphosphate (PIP2) in the membrane, whose interaction with the channels is thought necessary for their function. The other involves IP3‐mediated intracellular Ca2+ signals that stimulate PIP2 synthesis, preventing its depletion, and suppress IM via calmodulin. Carbon‐fibre amperometry can evaluate the effect of M channel activity on release of neurotransmitter. Consistent with the dominant role of M current in control of neuronal discharge, M channel openers, or blockers, reduced or augmented the evoked release of noradrenaline neurotransmitter from superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons, respectively. We seek to localize the subdomains on the channels critical to their regulation by PIP2. Based on single‐channel recordings from chimeras between high‐PIP2 affinity KCNQ3 and low‐PIP2 affinity KCNQ4 channels, we focus on a 57‐residue domain within the carboxy‐terminus that is a possible PIP2 binding site. Homology modelling of this domain using the published structure of IRK1 channels as a template predicts a structure very similar to an analogous region in IRK1 channels, and shows a cluster of basic residues in the KCNQ2 domain to correspond to those implicated in PIP2 regulation of Kir channels. We discuss some important issues dealing with these topics.

Oxidative modification of M‐type K+ channels as a mechanism of cytoprotective neuronal silencing

Voltage‐gated K+ channels of the Kv7 family underlie the neuronal M current that regulates action potential firing. Suppression of M current increases excitability and its enhancement can silence neurons. We here show that three of five Kv7 channels undergo strong enhancement of their activity by oxidative modification induced by physiological concentrations of hydrogen peroxide. A triple cysteine pocket in the channel S2–S3 linker is critical for this effect. Oxidation‐induced enhancement of M current produced a hyperpolarization and a dramatic reduction of action potential firing frequency in rat sympathetic neurons. As hydrogen peroxide is robustly produced during hypoxia‐induced oxidative stress, we used an oxygen/glucose deprivation neurodegeneration model that showed neuronal death to be severely accelerated by M current blockade. Such blockade had no effect on survival of normoxic neurons. This work describes a novel pathway of M‐channel regulation and suggests a role for M channels in protective neuronal silencing during oxidative stress.

Angiotensin II regulates neuronal excitability via phosphatidylinositol 4,5‐bisphosphate‐dependent modulation of Kv7 (M‐type) K+ channels

Voltage‐gated Kv7 (KCNQ) channels underlie important K+ currents in many different types of cells, including the neuronal M current, which is thought to be modulated by muscarinic stimulation via depletion of membrane phosphatidylinositol 4,5‐bisphosphate (PIP2). We studied the role of modulation by angiotensin II (angioII) of M current in controlling discharge properties of superior cervical ganglion (SCG) sympathetic neurons and the mechanism of action of angioII on cloned Kv7 channels in a heterologous expression system. In SCG neurons, which endogenously express angioII AT1 receptors, application of angioII for 2 min produced an increase in neuronal excitability and a decrease in spike‐frequency adaptation that partially returned to control values after 10 min of angioII exposure. The increase in excitability could be simulated in a computational model by varying only the amount of M current. Using Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells expressing cloned Kv7.2 + 7.3 heteromultimers and AT1 receptors studied under perforated patch clamp, angioII induced a strong suppression of the Kv7.2/7.3 current that returned to near baseline within 10 min of stimulation. The suppression was blocked by the phospholipase C inhibitor edelfosine. Under whole‐cell clamp, angioII moderately suppressed the Kv7.2/7.3 current whether or not intracellular Ca2+ was clamped or Ca2+ stores depleted. Co‐expression of PI(4)5‐kinase in these cells sharply reduced angioII inhibition, but did not augment current amplitudes, whereas co‐expression of a PIP2 5′‐phosphatase sharply reduced current amplitudes, and also blunted the inhibition. The rebound of the current seen in perforated‐patch recordings was blocked by the PI4‐kinase inhibitor, wortmannin (50 μm), suggesting that PIP2 re‐synthesis is required for current recovery. High‐performance liquid chromatographic analysis of anionic phospholipids in CHO cells stably expressing AT1 receptors revealed that PIP2 and phosphatidylinositol 4‐phosphate levels are to be strongly depleted after 2 min of stimulation with angioII, with a partial rebound after 10 min. The results of this study establish how angioII modulates M channels, which in turn affects the integrative properties of SCG neurons.

A carboxy-terminal inter-helix linker as the site of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate action on Kv7 (M-type) K+ channels

The regulation of M-type (KCNQ [Kv7]) K+ channels by phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) has perhaps the best correspondence to physiological signaling, but the site of action and structural motif of PIP2 on these channels have not been established. Using single-channel recordings of chimeras of Kv7.3 and 7.4 channels with highly differential PIP2 sensitivities, we localized a carboxy-terminal inter-helix linker as the primary site of PIP2 action. Point mutants within this linker in Kv7.2 and Kv7.3 identified a conserved cluster of basic residues that interact with the lipid using electrostatic and hydrogen bonds. Homology modeling of this putative PIP2-binding linker in Kv7.2 and Kv7.3 using the solved structure of Kir2.1 and Kir3.1 channels as templates predicts a structure of Kv7.2 and 7.3 very similar to the Kir channels, and to the seven-β-sheet barrel motif common to other PIP2-binding domains. Phosphoinositide-docking simulations predict affinities and interaction energies in accord with the experimental data, and furthermore indicate that the precise identity of residues in the interacting pocket alter channel–PIP2 interactions not only by altering electrostatic energies, but also by allosterically shifting the structure of the lipid-binding surface. The results are likely to shed light on the general structural mechanisms of phosphoinositide regulation of ion channels.

Ca2+/Calmodulin Disrupts AKAP79/150 Interactions with KCNQ (M-Type) K+ Channels

M-type channels are localized to neuronal, cardiovascular, and epithelial tissues, where they play critical roles in control of excitability and K+ transport, and are regulated by numerous receptors via Gq/11-mediated signals. One pathway shown for KCNQ2 and muscarinic receptors uses PKC, recruited to the channels by A-kinase anchoring protein (AKAP)79/150. As M-type channels can be variously composed of KCNQ1-5 subunits, and M current is known to be regulated by Ca2+/calmodulin (CaM) and PIP2, we probed the generality of AKAP79/150 actions among KCNQ1-5 channels, and the influence of Ca2+/CaM and PIP2 on AKAP79/150 actions. We first examined which KCNQ subunits are targeted by AKAP79 in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells heterologously expressing KCNQ1-5 subunits and AKAP79, using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) under total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, and patch-clamp analysis. Donor-dequenching FRET between CFP-tagged KCNQ1-5 and YFP-tagged AKAP79 revealed association of KCNQ2-5, but not KCNQ1, with AKAP79. In parallel with these results, CHO cells stably expressing M1 receptors studied under perforated patch-clamp showed cotransfection of AKAP79 to “sensitize” KCNQ2/3 heteromers and KCNQ2-5, but not KCNQ1, homomers to muscarinic inhibition, manifested by shifts in the dose–response relations to lower concentrations. The effect on KCNQ4 was abolished by the T553A mutation of the putative PKC phosphorylation site. We then probed the role of CaM and PIP2 in these AKAP79 actions. TIRF/FRET experiments revealed cotransfection of wild-type, but not dominant-negative (DN), CaM that cannot bind Ca2+, to disrupt the interaction of YFP-tagged AKAP791-153 with CFP-tagged KCNQ2-5. Tonic depletion of PIP2 by cotransfection of a PIP2 phosphatase had no effect, and sudden depletion of PIP2 did not delocalize GFP-tagged AKAP79 from the membrane. Finally, patch-clamp experiments showed cotransfection of wild-type, but not DN, CaM to prevent the AKAP79-mediated sensitization of KCNQ2/3 heteromers to muscarinic inhibition. Thus, AKAP79 acts on KCNQ2-5, but not KCNQ1-containing channels, with effects disrupted by calcified CaM, but not by PIP2 depletion.

Inositol Triphosphate-Mediated Ca2+ Signals Direct Purinergic P2Y Receptor Regulation of Neuronal Ion Channels

Purinergic P2Y receptors are one of four types of Gq/11-coupled receptors in rat superior cervical ganglia (SCG) sympathetic neurons. In cultured SCG neurons, purinergic and bradykinin suppression of IM were similar in magnitude and somewhat less than that by muscarinic agonists. The effects of the P2Y receptor agonist UTP on neuronal excitability and discharge properties were studied. Under current clamp, UTP increased action potential (AP) firing in response to depolarizing current steps, depolarized the resting potential, decreased the threshold current required to fire an AP, and decreased spike-frequency adaptation. These effects were very similar to those resulting from bradykinin stimulation and not as profound as from muscarinic stimulation or full M-current blockade. We then examined the P2Y mechanism of action. Like bradykinin, but unlike muscarinic, purinergic stimulation induced rises in intracellular [Ca2+]i. Tests using expression of IP3“sponge” or IP3 phosphatase constructs implicated IP3 accumulation as necessary for purinergic suppression of IM. Overexpression of wild-type or dominant-negative calmodulin (CaM) implicated Ca2+/CaM in the purinergic action. Both sets of results were similar to bradykinin, and opposite to muscarinic, suppression. We also examined modulation of Ca2+ channels. As for bradykinin, purinergic stimulation did not suppress ICa, unless neuronal calcium sensor-1 (NCS-1) activity was blocked by a dominant-negative NCS-1 construct. Our results indicate that P2Y receptors modulate M-type channels in SCG cells via IP3-mediated [Ca2+]i signals in concert with CaM and not by depletion of phosphatidylinositol-4, 5-biphosphate. We group purinergic P2Y and bradykinin B2 receptors together as having a common mode of action.

Homomeric and heteromeric assembly of KCNQ (Kv7) K+ channels assayed by total internal reflection fluorescence/fluorescence resonance energy transfer and patch clamp analysis.

M-type K+ channels, consisting of KCNQ1–5 (Kv7.1–7.5) subunits, form a variety of homomeric and heteromeric channels. Whereas all the subunits can assemble into homomeric channels, the ability of the subunits to assemble into heteromultimers is highly variable. KCNQ3 is widely thought to co-assemble with several other KCNQ subtypes, whereas KCNQ1 and KCNQ2 do not. However, the existence of other subunit assemblies is not well studied. To systematically explore the heteromeric assembly of KCNQ channels in individual living cells, we performed fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between cyan fluorescent protein- and yellow fluorescent protein-tagged KCNQ subunits expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells under total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy in which excitation light only penetrates several hundred nanometers into the cell, thus isolating membrane events. We found significant FRET between homomeric subunits as expected from their functional expression in heterologous expression systems. Also as expected from previous work, robust FRET was observed between KCNQ2 and KCNQ3. KCNQ3 and KCNQ4 also showed substantial FRET as did KCNQ4 and KCNQ5. To determine functional assembly of KCNQ4/KCNQ5 heteromers, we performed two types of experiments. In the first, we constructed a mutant tetraethylammonium ion-sensitive KCNQ4 subunit and tested its assembly with KCNQ5 by patch clamp analysis of the tetraethylammonium ion sensitivity of the resulting current; however, those data were not conclusive. In the second, we co-expressed a KCNQ4 (G285S) pore mutant with KCNQ5 and found the former to act as a dominant negative, suggesting co-assembly of the two types of subunits. These data confirm that among the allowed assembly conformations are KCNQ3/4 and KCNQ4/5 heteromers.

AKAP79/150 Signal Complexes in G-Protein Modulation of Neuronal Ion Channels

Voltage-gated M-type (KCNQ) K+ channels play critical roles in regulation of neuronal excitability. Previous work showed A-kinase-anchoring protein (AKAP)79/150-mediated protein kinase C (PKC) phosphorylation of M channels to be involved in M current (IM) suppression by muscarinic M1, but not bradykinin B2, receptors. In this study, we first explored whether purinergic and angiotensin suppression of IM in superior cervical ganglion (SCG) sympathetic neurons involves AKAP79/150. Transfection into rat SCG neurons of ΔA-AKAP79, which lacks the A domain necessary for PKC binding, or the absence of AKAP150 in AKAP150−/− mice, did not affect IM suppression by purinergic agonist or by bradykinin, but reduced IM suppression by muscarinic agonist and angiotensin II. Transfection of AKAP79, but not ΔA-AKAP79 or AKAP15, rescued suppression of IM by muscarinic receptors in AKAP150−/− neurons. We also tested association of AKAP79 with M1, B2, P2Y6, and AT1 receptors, and KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 channels, via Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) on Chinese hamster ovary cells under total internal refection fluorescence microscopy, which revealed substantial FRET between AKAP79 and M1 or AT1 receptors, and with the channels, but only weak FRET with P2Y6 or B2 receptors. The involvement of AKAP79/150 in Gq/11-coupled muscarinic regulation of N- and L-type Ca2+ channels and by cAMP/protein kinase A was also studied. We found AKAP79/150 to not play a role in the former, but to be necessary for forskolin-induced upregulation of L-current. Thus, AKAP79/150 action correlates with the PIP2 (phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate)-depletion mode of IM suppression, but does not generalize to Gq/11-mediated inhibition of N- or L-type Ca2+ channels.

Calmodulin binding to M‐type K+ channels assayed by TIRF/FRET in living cells

Calmodulin (CaM) binds to KCNQ2–4 channels within their carboxy termini, where it regulates channel function. The existing data have not resolved the Ca2+ dependence of the interaction between the channels and CaM. We performed glutathione S‐transferase (GST)‐pull‐down assays between purified KCNQ2–4 carboxy termini and CaM proteins to determine the Ca2+ dependence of the interaction in vitro. The assays showed substantial Ca2+ dependence of the interaction of the channels with wild‐type (WT) CaM, but not with dominant‐negative (DN) CaM. To demonstrate CaM–channel interactions in individual living cells, we performed fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between ECFP‐tagged KCNQ2–4 channels and EYFP‐tagged CaM expressed in CHO cells, performed under total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, in which excitation light only penetrates several hundred nanometres into the cell, thus isolating membrane events. FRET was assayed between the channels and either WT or DN CaM, performed under conditions of normal [Ca2+]i, low [Ca2+]i or high [Ca2+]i induced by empirically optimized bathing solutions. The FRET data suggest a strong Ca2+ dependence for the interaction between WT CaM and KCNQ2, but less so for KCNQ3 and KCNQ4. FRET between all KCNQ2–4 channels and DN CaM was robust, and not significantly Ca2+ dependent. These data show interactions between CaM and KCNQ channels in living cells, and suggest that the interactions between KCNQ2–4 channels and CaM are likely to have Ca2+‐dependent and Ca2+‐independent components.

Determinants within the Turret and Pore-Loop Domains of KCNQ3 K+ Channels Governing Functional Activity

KCNQ1-5 (Kv7.1-7.5) subunits assemble to form a variety of functional K(+) channels in the nervous system, heart, and epithelia. KCNQ1 and KCNQ4 homomers and KCNQ2/3 heteromers yield large currents, whereas KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 homomers yield small currents. Since the unitary conductance of KCNQ3 is five- to 10-fold greater than that of KCNQ4 or KCNQ1, these differences are even more striking. To test for differential membrane protein expression, we performed biotinylation and total internal reflection fluorescence imaging assays; however, both revealed only small differences among the channels, leading us to investigate other mechanisms at work. We probed the molecular determinants governing macroscopic current amplitudes, with focus on the turret and pore-loop domains of KCNQ1 and KCNQ3. Elimination of the putative N289 glycosylation site in KCNQ1 reduced current density by approximately 56%. A chimera consisting of KCNQ3 with the turret domain (TD) of KCNQ1 increased current density by about threefold. Replacement of the proximal half of the TD in KCNQ3 with that of KCNQ1 increased current density by fivefold. A triple chimera containing the TD of KCNQ1 and the carboxy terminus of KCNQ4 yielded current density 10- or sixfold larger than wild-type KCNQ3 or KCNQ1, respectively, suggesting that the effects on current amplitudes of the TD and the carboxy-terminus are additive. Critical was the role of the intracellular TEA(+)-binding site. The KCNQ3 (A315T) swap increased current density by 10-fold, and the converse KCNQ1 (T311A) swap reduced it by 10-fold. KCNQ3 (A315S) also yielded greatly increased current amplitudes, whereas currents from mutant A315V channels were very small. The KCNQ3 (A315T) mutation increased the sensitivity of the channels to external Ba(2+) block by eight- to 28-fold, consistent with this mutation altering the structure of the selectivity filter. To investigate a structural hypothesis for the effects of these mutations, we performed homology modeling of the pore region of wild-type and mutant KCNQ3 channels, using KvAP as a template. The modeling suggests a critical stabilizing interaction between the pore helix and the selectivity filter that is absent in wild-type KCNQ3 and the A315V mutant, but present in the A315T and A315S mutants. We conclude that KCNQ3 homomers are well expressed at the plasma membrane, but that most wild-type channels are functionally silent, with rearrangements of the pore-loop architecture induced by the presence of a hydroxyl-containing residue at the 315 position unlocking the channels into a conductive conformation.