Polina Kornilov

Targeting the voltage sensor of Kv7.2 voltage-gated K+ channels with a new gating-modifier

The pore and gate regions of voltage-gated cation channels have been often targeted with drugs acting as channel modulators. In contrast, the voltage-sensing domain (VSD) was practically not exploited for therapeutic purposes, although it is the target of various toxins. We recently designed unique diphenylamine carboxylates that are powerful Kv7.2 voltage-gated K+ channel openers or blockers. Here we show that a unique Kv7.2 channel opener, NH29, acts as a nontoxin gating modifier. NH29 increases Kv7.2 currents, thereby producing a hyperpolarizing shift of the activation curve and slowing both activation and deactivation kinetics. In neurons, the opener depresses evoked spike discharges. NH29 dampens hippocampal glutamate and GABA release, thereby inhibiting excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic currents. Mutagenesis and modeling data suggest that in Kv7.2, NH29 docks to the external groove formed by the interface of helices S1, S2, and S4 in a way that stabilizes the interaction between two conserved charged residues in S2 and S4, known to interact electrostatically, in the open state of Kv channels. Results indicate that NH29 may operate via a voltage-sensor trapping mechanism similar to that suggested for scorpion and sea-anemone toxins. Reflecting the promiscuous nature of the VSD, NH29 is also a potent blocker of TRPV1 channels, a feature similar to that of tarantula toxins. Our data provide a structural framework for designing unique gating-modifiers targeted to the VSD of voltage-gated cation channels and used for the treatment of hyperexcitability disorders.

Multifaceted Modulation of K+ Channels by Protein-tyrosine Phosphatase ϵ Tunes Neuronal Excitability

Background: Non-receptor protein-tyrosine phosphatases (PTP) modulate the activity of K+ channels. Results: Cortical neurons from PTPϵ knock-out (EKO) mice exhibit reduced IK and increased BK currents, enhanced excitability, and tyrosine phosphorylation of potassium channel subsets. Conclusion: In EKO mice, the lack of PTPϵ modulation of potassium channels leads to increased excitability. Significance: Modulation of K+ channels by PTPϵ tunes neuronal excitability. Non-receptor-tyrosine kinases (protein-tyrosine kinases) and non-receptor tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) have been implicated in the regulation of ion channels, neuronal excitability, and synaptic plasticity. We previously showed that protein-tyrosine kinases such as Src kinase and PTPs such as PTPα and PTPϵ modulate the activity of delayed-rectifier K+ channels (IK). Here we show cultured cortical neurons from PTPϵ knock-out (EKO) mice to exhibit increased excitability when compared with wild type (WT) mice, with larger spike discharge frequency, enhanced fast after-hyperpolarization, increased after-depolarization, and reduced spike width. A decrease in IK and a rise in large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ currents (mBK) were observed in EKO cortical neurons compared with WT. Parallel studies in transfected CHO cells indicate that Kv1.1, Kv1.2, Kv7.2/7.3, and mBK are plausible molecular correlates of this multifaceted modulation of K+ channels by PTPϵ. In CHO cells, Kv1.1, Kv1.2, and Kv7.2/7.3 K+ currents were up-regulated by PTPϵ, whereas mBK channel activity was reduced. The levels of tyrosine phosphorylation of Kv1.1, Kv1.2, Kv7.3, and mBK potassium channels were increased in the brain cortices of neonatal and adult EKO mice compared with WT, suggesting that PTPϵ in the brain modulates these channel proteins. Our data indicate that in EKO mice, the lack of PTPϵ-mediated dephosphorylation of Kv1.1, Kv1.2, and Kv7.3 leads to decreased IK density and enhanced after-depolarization. In addition, the deficient PTPϵ-mediated dephosphorylation of mBK channels likely contributes to enhanced mBK and fast after-hyperpolarization, spike shortening, and consequent increase in neuronal excitability observed in cortical neurons from EKO mice.

Promiscuous gating modifiers target the voltage sensor of Kv7.2, TRPV1, and Hv1 cation channels

Some of the fascinating features of voltage‐sensing domains (VSDs) in voltage‐gated cation channels (VGCCs) are their modular nature and adaptability. Here we examined the VSD sensitivity of different VGCCs to 2 structurally related nontoxin gating modifiers, NH17 and NH29, which stabilize Kv7.2 potassium channels in the closed and open states, respectively. The effects of NH17 and NH29 were examined in Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) or Kv7.2 channels, as well as in dorsal root ganglia neurons, using the whole‐cell patch‐clamp technique. NH17 and NH29 exert opposite effects on TRPV1 channels, operating, respectively, as an activator and a blocker of TRPV1 currents (EC50 and IC50 values ranging from 4 to 40 μM). Combined mutagenesis, electrophysiology, structural homology modeling, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation indicate that both compounds target the VSDs of TRPV1 channels, which, like vanilloids, are involved in π‐π stacking, H‐bonding, and hydrophobic interactions. Reflecting their promiscuity, the drugs also affect the lone VSD proton channel mV‐SOP. Thus, the same gating modifier can promiscuously interact with different VGCCs, and subtle differences at the VSD‐ligand interface will dictate whether the gating modifier stabilizes channels in either the closed or the open state.—Kornilov, P., Peretz, A., Lee, Y., Son, K., Lee, J. H., Refaeli, B., Roz, N., Rehavi, M., Choi, S., Attali, B. Promiscuous gating modifiers target the voltage sensor of Kv7.2, TRPV1, and Hv1 cation channels. FASEB J. 28, 2591–2602 (2014). www.fasebj.org

Capturing distinct KCNQ2 channel resting states by metal ion bridges in the voltage-sensor domain

The KCNQ2 channel can exist in multiple resting conformations.

Channel gating pore: a new therapeutic target

Each subunit of voltage-gated cation channels comprises a voltage-sensing domain and a pore region. In a paper recently published in Cell Research, Li et al. showed that the gating charge pathway of the voltage sensor of the KCNQ2 K channel can accommodate small opener molecules and offer a new target to treat hyperexcitability disorders.