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BK channels in rat and human pulmonary smooth muscle cells are BK?-?1 functional complexes lacking the oxygen-sensitive stress axis regulated exon insert.

ABSTRACT: A loss of K+ efflux in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) contributes to abnormal vasoconstriction and PASMC proliferation during pulmonary hypertension (PH). Activation of high-conductance Ca2+-activated (BK) channels represents a therapeutic strategy to restore K+ efflux to the affected PASMCs. However, the properties of BK channels in PASMCs-including sensitivity to BK channel openers (BKCOs)-are poorly defined. The goal of this study was to compare the properties of BK channels between PASMCs of normoxic (N) and chronic hypoxic (CH) rats and then explore key findings in human PASMCs. Polymerase chain reaction results revealed that 94.3% of transcripts encoding BK? pore proteins in PASMCs from N rats represent splice variants lacking the stress axis regulated exon insert, which confers oxygen sensitivity. Subsequent patch-clamp recordings from inside-out (I-O) patches confirmed a dense population of BK channels insensitive to hypoxia. The BK channels were highly activated by intracellular Ca2+ and the BKCO lithocholate; these responses require BK?-?1 subunit coupling. PASMCs of CH rats with established PH exhibited a profound overabundance of the dominant oxygen-insensitive BK? variant. Importantly, human BK (hBK) channels in PASMCs from human donor lungs also represented the oxygen-insensitive BK? variant activated by BKCOs. The hBK channels showed significantly enhanced Ca2+ sensitivity compared with rat BK channels. We conclude that rat BK and hBK channels in PASMCs are oxygen-insensitive BK?-?1 complexes highly sensitive to Ca2+ and the BKCO lithocholate. BK channels are overexpressed in PASMCs of a rat model of PH and may provide an abundant target for BKCOs designed to restore K+ efflux.

SUBMITTER: Detweiler ND

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5210062 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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BK channels in rat and human pulmonary smooth muscle cells are BKα-β1 functional complexes lacking the oxygen-sensitive stress axis regulated exon insert.

Detweiler Neil D ND Song Li L McClenahan Samantha J SJ Versluis Rachel J RJ Kharade Sujay V SV Kurten Richard C RC Rhee Sung W SW Rusch Nancy J NJ

Pulmonary circulation 20161201 4

A loss of K+ efflux in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) contributes to abnormal vasoconstriction and PASMC proliferation during pulmonary hypertension (PH). Activation of high-conductance Ca2+-activated (BK) channels represents a therapeutic strategy to restore K+ efflux to the affected PASMCs. However, the properties of BK channels in PASMCs-including sensitivity to BK channel openers (BKCOs)-are poorly defined. The goal of this study was to compa ...[more]

PMID: 28090300

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Project description:ATP-sensitive potassium channels (KATP channels) are hetero-octameric nucleotide-gated ion channels that couple cellular metabolism to excitability in various tissues. In the heart, KATP channels are activated during ischaemia and potentially during adrenergic stimulation. In the vasculature, they are normally active at a low level, reducing vascular tone, but the ubiquitous nature of these channels leads to complex and poorly understood channelopathies as a result of gain- or loss-of-function mutations. Zebrafish (ZF) models of these channelopathies may provide insights to the link between molecular dysfunction and complex pathophysiology, but this requires understanding the tissue dependence of channel activity and subunit specificity. Thus far, direct analysis of ZF KATP expression and functional properties has only been performed in pancreatic β-cells. Using a comprehensive combination of genetically modified fish, electrophysiology and gene expression analysis, we demonstrate that ZF cardiac myocytes (CM) and vascular smooth muscle (VSM) express functional KATP channels of similar subunit composition, structure and metabolic sensitivity to their mammalian counterparts. However, in contrast to mammalian cardiovascular KATP channels, ZF channels are insensitive to potassium channel opener drugs (pinacidil, minoxidil) in both chambers of the heart and in VSM. The results provide a first characterization of the molecular properties of fish KATP channels and validate the use of such genetically modified fish as models of human Cantú syndrome and ABCC9-related Intellectual Disability and Myopathy syndrome. KEY POINTS: Zebrafish cardiac myocytes (CM) and vascular smooth muscle (VSM) express functional KATP channels of similar subunit composition, structure and metabolic sensitivity to their mammalian counterparts. In contrast to mammalian cardiovascular KATP channels, zebrafish channels are insensitive to potassium channel opener drugs (pinacidil, minoxidil) in both chambers of the heart and in VSM. We provide a first characterization of the molecular properties of fish KATP channels and validate the use of such genetically modified fish as models of human Cantú syndrome and ABCC9-related Intellectual Disability and Myopathy syndrome.

Dataset Information

BK channels in rat and human pulmonary smooth muscle cells are BK?-?1 functional complexes lacking the oxygen-sensitive stress axis regulated exon insert.

Publications

BK channels in rat and human pulmonary smooth muscle cells are BKα-β<sub>1</sub> functional complexes lacking the oxygen-sensitive stress axis regulated exon insert.

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