Movement of the S4 segment in the hERG potassium channel during membrane depolarization

Abstract

The hERG potassium channel is a member of the voltage gated potassium (Kv) channel family, comprising a pore domain and four voltage sensing domains (VSDs). Like other Kv channels, the VSD senses changes in membrane voltage and transmits the signal to gates located in the pore domain; the gates open at positive potentials (activation) and close at negative potentials, thereby controlling the ion flux. hERG, however, differs from other Kv channels in that it is activated slowly but inactivated rapidly – a property that is crucial for the role it plays in the repolarization of the cardiac action potential. Voltage-gating requires movement of gating charges across the membrane electric field, which is accomplished by the transmembrane movement of the fourth transmembrane segment, S4, of the VSD containing the positively charged arginine or lysine residues. Here we ask if the functional differences between hERG and other Kv channels could arise from differences in the transmembrane movement of S4. To address this, we have introduced single cysteine residues into the S4 region of the VSD, expressed the mutant channels in Xenopus oocytes and examined the effect of membrane impermeable para-chloromercuribenzene sulphonate on function by the two-electrode voltage clamp technique. Our results show that depolarization results in the accessibility of seven consecutive S4 residues, including the first two charged residues, K525 and R528, to extracellularly applied reagent. These data indicate that the extent of S4 movement in hERG is similar to other Kv channels, including the archabacterial KvAP and the Shaker channel of Drosophila.     

Role of S4 positively charged residues in the regulation of Kv4.3 inactivation and recovery

The molecular and biophysical mechanisms by which voltage-sensitive K⁺ (Kv)4 channels inactivate and recover from inactivation are presently unresolved. There is a general consensus, however, that Shaker-like N- and P/C-type mechanisms are likely not involved. Kv4 channels also display prominent inactivation from preactivated closed states [closed-state inactivation (CSI)], a process that appears to be absent in Shaker channels. As in Shaker channels, voltage sensitivity in Kv4 channels is thought to be conferred by positively charged residues localized to the fourth transmembrane segment (S4) of the voltage-sensing domain. To investigate the role of S4 positive charge in Kv4.3 gating transitions, we analyzed the effects of charge elimination at each positively charged arginine (R) residue by mutation to the uncharged residue alanine (A). We first demonstrated that R290A, R293A, R296A, and R302A mutants each alter basic activation characteristics consistent with positive charge removal. We then found strong evidence that recovery from inactivation is coupled to deactivation, showed that the precise location of the arginine residues within S4 plays an important role in the degree of development of CSI and recovery from CSI, and demonstrated that the development of CSI can be sequentially uncoupled from activation by R296A, specifically. Taken together, these results extend our current understanding of Kv4.3 gating transitions. voltage-sensitive potassium channel; Shaker; closed-state inactivation     

Non-Native R1 Substitution in the S4 Domain Uniquely Alters Kv4.3 Channel Gating

The S4 transmembrane domain in Shaker (Kv1) voltage-sensitive potassium channels has four basic residues (R1–R4) that are responsible for carrying the majority of gating charge. In Kv4 channels, however, R1 is replaced by a neutral valine at position 287. Among other differences, Kv4 channels display prominent closed state inactivation, a mechanism which is minimal in Shaker. To determine if the absence of R1 is responsible for important variation in gating characteristics between the two channel types, we introduced the V287R mutant into Kv4.3 and analyzed its effects on several voltage sensitive gating transitions. We found that the mutant increased the voltage sensitivity of steady-state activation and altered the kinetics of activation and deactivation processes. Although the kinetics of macroscopic inactivation were minimally affected, the characteristics of closed-state inactivation and recovery from open and closed inactivated states were significantly altered. The absence of R1 can only partially account for differences in the effective voltage sensitivity of gating between Shaker and Kv4.3. These results suggest that the S4 domain serves an important functional role in Kv4 channel activation and deactivation processes, and also those of closed-state inactivation and recovery.     

The N-terminus of the K channel KAT1 controls its voltage-dependent gating by altering the membrane electric field.

Functional roles of different domains (pore region, S4 segment, N-terminus) of the KAT1 potassium channel in its voltage-dependent gating were electrophysiologically studied in Xenopus oocytes. The KAT1 properties did not depend on the extracellular K+ concentration or on residue H267, equivalent to one of the residues known to be important in C-type inactivation in Shaker channels, indicating that the hyperpolarization-induced KAT1 inward currents are related to the channel activation rather than to recovery from inactivation. Neutralization of a positively charged amino acid in the S4 domain (R176S) reduced the gating charge movement, suggesting that it acts as a voltage-sensing residue in KAT1. N-terminal deletions alone (e.g., delta20-34) did not affect the gating charge movement. However, the deletions paradoxically increased the voltage sensitivity of the R176S mutant channel, but not that of the wild-type channel. We propose a simple model in which the N-terminus determines the KAT1 voltage sensitivity by contributing to the electric field sensed by the voltage sensor.     

Role of hydrophobic and ionic forces in the movement of S4 of the Shaker potassium channel

Abstract

Voltage-gated ion (K⁺, Na⁺, Ca²⁺) channels contain a pore domain (PD) surrounded by four voltage sensing domains (VSD). Each VSD is made up of four transmembrane helices, S1–S4. S4 contains 6–7 positively charged residues (arginine/lysine) separated two hydrophobic residues, whereas S1–S3 contribute to two negatively charged clusters. These structures are conserved among all members of the voltage-gated ion channel family and play essential roles in voltage gating. The role of S4 charged residues in voltage gating is well established: During depolarization, they move out of the membrane electric field, exerting a mechanical force on channel gates, causing them to open. However, the role of the intervening hydrophobic residues in voltage sensing is unclear. Here we studied the role of these residues in the prototypical Shaker potassium channel. We have altered the physicochemical properties of both charged and hydrophobic positions of S4 and examined the effect of these modifications on the gating properties of the channel. For this, we have introduced cysteines at each of these positions, expressed the mutants in Xenopus oocytes, and examined the effect of in situ addition of charge, via Cd²⁺, on channel gating by two-electrode voltage clamp. Our results reveal a face of the S4 helix (comprising residues L358, L361, R365 and R368) where introduction of charge at hydrophobic positions destabilises the closed state and removal of charges from charged positions has an opposite effect. We propose that hydrophobic residues play a crucial role in limiting gating to a physiological voltage range.     

Specificity of charge-carrying residues in the voltage sensor of potassium channels

Positively charged voltage sensors of sodium and potassium channels are driven outward through the membrane's electric field upon depolarization. This movement is coupled to channel opening. A recent model based on studies of the KvAP channel proposes that the positively charged voltage sensor, christened the "voltage-sensor paddle", is a peripheral domain that shuttles its charged cargo through membrane lipid like a hydrophobic cation. We tested this idea by attaching charged adducts to cysteines introduced into the putative voltage-sensor paddle of Shaker potassium channels and measuring fractional changes in the total gating charge from gating currents. The only residues capable of translocating attached charges through the membrane-electric field are those that serve this function in the native channel. This remarkable specificity indicates that charge movement involves highly specialized interactions between the voltage sensor and other regions of the protein, a mechanism inconsistent with the paddle model.     

Voltage clamp fluorimetry reveals a novel outer pore instability in a mammalian voltage-gated potassium channel

Voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channel gating involves complex structural rearrangements that regulate the ability of channels to conduct K(+) ions. Fluorescence-based approaches provide a powerful technique to directly report structural dynamics underlying these gating processes in Shaker Kv channels. Here, we apply voltage clamp fluorimetry, for the first time, to study voltage sensor motions in mammalian Kv1.5 channels. Despite the homology between Kv1.5 and the Shaker channel, attaching TMRM or PyMPO fluorescent probes to substituted cysteine residues in the S3-S4 linker of Kv1.5 (M394C-V401C) revealed unique and unusual fluorescence signals. Whereas the fluorescence during voltage sensor movement in Shaker channels was monoexponential and occurred with a similar time course to ionic current activation, the fluorescence report of Kv1.5 voltage sensor motions was transient with a prominent rapidly dequenching component that, with TMRM at A397C (equivalent to Shaker A359C), represented 36 +/- 3% of the total signal and occurred with a tau of 3.4 +/- 0.6 ms at +60 mV (n = 4). Using a number of approaches, including 4-AP drug block and the ILT triple mutation, which dissociate channel opening from voltage sensor movement, we demonstrate that the unique dequenching component of fluorescence is associated with channel opening. By regulating the outer pore structure using raised (99 mM) external K(+) to stabilize the conducting configuration of the selectivity filter, or the mutations W472F (equivalent to Shaker W434F) and H463G to stabilize the nonconducting (P-type inactivated) configuration of the selectivity filter, we show that the dequenching of fluorescence reflects rapid structural events at the selectivity filter gate rather than the intracellular pore gate.     

Transfer of ion binding site from ether-à-go-go to Shaker: Mg2+ binds to resting state to modulate channel opening

In ether-à-go-go (eag) K⁺ channels, extracellular divalent cations bind to the resting voltage sensor and thereby slow activation. Two eag-specific acidic residues in S2 and S3b coordinate the bound ion. Residues located at analogous positions are ∼4 Å apart in the x-ray structure of a Kv1.2/Kv2.1 chimera crystallized in the absence of a membrane potential. It is unknown whether these residues remain in proximity in Kv1 channels at negative voltages when the voltage sensor domain is in its resting conformation. To address this issue, we mutated Shaker residues I287 and F324, which correspond to the binding site residues in eag, to aspartate and recorded ionic and gating currents in the presence and absence of extracellular Mg²⁺. In I287D+F324D, Mg²⁺ significantly increased the delay before ionic current activation and slowed channel opening with no readily detectable effect on closing. Because the delay before Shaker opening reflects the initial phase of voltage-dependent activation, the results indicate that Mg²⁺ binds to the voltage sensor in the resting conformation. Supporting this conclusion, Mg²⁺ shifted the voltage dependence and slowed the kinetics of gating charge movement. Both the I287D and F324D mutations were required to modulate channel function. In contrast, E283, a highly conserved residue in S2, was not required for Mg²⁺ binding. Ion binding affected activation by shielding the negatively charged side chains of I287D and F324D. These results show that the engineered divalent cation binding site in Shaker strongly resembles the naturally occurring site in eag. Our data provide a novel, short-range structural constraint for the resting conformation of the Shaker voltage sensor and are valuable for evaluating existing models for the resting state and voltage-dependent conformational changes that occur during activation. Comparing our data to the chimera x-ray structure, we conclude that residues in S2 and S3b remain in proximity throughout voltage-dependent activation.     

Functional interactions between residues in the S1, S4, and S5 domains of Kv2.1

The voltage-gated potassium channel subunit Kv2.1 forms heterotetrameric channels with the silent subunit Kv6.4. Chimeric Kv2.1 channels containing a single transmembrane segment from Kv6.4 have been shown to be functional. However, a Kv2.1 chimera containing both S1 and S5 from Kv6.4 was not functional. Back mutation of individual residues in this chimera (to the Kv2.1 counterpart) identified four positions that were critical for functionality: A200V and A203T in S1, and T343M and P347S in S5. To test for possible interactions in Kv2.1, we used substitutions with charged residues and tryptophan for the outermost pair 203/347. Combinations of substitutions with opposite charges at both T203 and S347 were tolerated but resulted in channels with altered gating kinetics, as did the combination of negatively charged aspartate substitutions. Double mutant cycle analysis with these mutants indicated that both residues are energetically coupled. In contrast, replacing both residues with a positively charged lysine together (T203K + S347K) was not tolerated and resulted in a folding or trafficking deficiency. The nonfunctionality of the T203K + S347K mutation could be restored by introducing the R300E mutation in the S4 segment of the voltage sensor. These results indicate that these specific S1, S4, and S5 residues are in close proximity and interact with each other in the functional channel, but are also important determinants for Kv2.1 channel maturation. These data support the view of an anchoring interaction between S1 and S5, but indicate that this interaction surface is more extensive than previously proposed.     

The gating charge pathway of an epilepsy-associated potassium channel accommodates chemical ligands

Voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels derive their voltage sensitivity from movement of gating charges in voltage-sensor domains (VSDs). The gating charges translocate through a physical pathway in the VSD to open or close the channel. Previous studies showed that the gating charge pathways of Shaker and Kv1.2-2.1 chimeric channels are occluded, forming the structural basis for the focused electric field and gating charge transfer center. Here, we show that the gating charge pathway of the voltage-gated KCNQ2 potassium channel, activity reduction of which causes epilepsy, can accommodate various small molecule ligands. Combining mutagenesis, molecular simulation and electrophysiological recording, a binding model for the probe activator, ztz240, in the gating charge pathway was defined. This information was used to establish a docking-based virtual screening assay targeting the defined ligand-binding pocket. Nine activators with five new chemotypes were identified, and in vivo experiments showed that three ligands binding to the gating charge pathway exhibit significant anti-epilepsy activity. Identification of various novel activators by virtual screening targeting the pocket supports the presence of a ligand-binding site in the gating charge pathway. The capability of the gating charge pathway to accommodate small molecule ligands offers new insights into the gating charge pathway of the therapeutically relevant KCNQ2 channel.     

Role of charged residues in the S1-S4 voltage sensor of BK channels

The activation of large conductance Ca(2+)-activated (BK) potassium channels is weakly voltage dependent compared to Shaker and other voltage-gated K(+) (K(V)) channels. Yet BK and K(V) channels share many conserved charged residues in transmembrane segments S1-S4. We mutated these residues individually in mSlo1 BK channels to determine their role in voltage gating, and characterized the voltage dependence of steady-state activation (P(o)) and I(K) kinetics (tau(I(K))) over an extended voltage range in 0-50 microM [Ca(2+)](i). mSlo1 contains several positively charged arginines in S4, but only one (R213) together with residues in S2 (D153, R167) and S3 (D186) are potentially voltage sensing based on the ability of charge-altering mutations to reduce the maximal voltage dependence of P(O). The voltage dependence of P(O) and tau(I(K)) at extreme negative potentials was also reduced, implying that the closed-open conformational change and voltage sensor activation share a common source of gating charge. Although the position of charged residues in the BK and K(V) channel sequence appears conserved, the distribution of voltage-sensing residues is not. Thus the weak voltage dependence of BK channel activation does not merely reflect a lack of charge but likely differences with respect to K(V) channels in the position and movement of charged residues within the electric field. Although mutation of most sites in S1-S4 did not reduce gating charge, they often altered the equilibrium constant for voltage sensor activation. In particular, neutralization of R207 or R210 in S4 stabilizes the activated state by 3-7 kcal mol(-1), indicating a strong contribution of non-voltage-sensing residues to channel function, consistent with their participation in state-dependent salt bridge interactions. Mutations in S4 and S3 (R210E, D186A, and E180A) also unexpectedly weakened the allosteric coupling of voltage sensor activation to channel opening. The implications of our findings for BK channel voltage gating and general mechanisms of voltage sensor activation are discussed.     

Ile-177 and Ser-180 in the S1 segment are critically important in Kv1.1 channel function

Ile-177 and Ser-180 are conserved residues in the first transmembrane segment (S1) of the Shaker, Shab, Shaw, and Shal subfamilies of voltage-gated K+ channels. Here we report that the mutation of these residues in Kv1.1 to leucine, proline, or arginine abolished the expression of outward potassium currents in Xenopus oocytes. Co-injection of these mutant cRNAs and wild type Kv1.1 cRNA into Xenopus oocytes exerted a potent dominant negative effect resulting in the suppression of Kv1.1-encoded currents. Transient transfection experiments of COS-7 cells revealed that the S1 mutants directed the synthesis of Kv1.1 polypeptides. Quantitative co-immunoprecipitation assays revealed that most of the S1 mutants co-assembled and formed both homo- and heteromultimeric complexes. Furthermore, the mutated polypeptides could reach the plasma membranes of transfected Sol8 cells. We conclude that mutations of Ile-177 and Ser-180 do not interfere with either the assembly of multimeric channel complexes or the targeting of these complexes to the plasma membrane. It is likely that these residues are involved in helix-helix interactions that are critical to the proper functioning of voltage-gated potassium channels.     

Gating of voltage-dependent potassium channels

Activation of voltage-dependent ion channels is primarily controlled by the applied potential difference across the membrane. For potassium channels the Drosophila Shaker channel has served as an archetype of all other potassium channels in studies of activation mechanisms. In the Shaker potassium channel much of the voltage sensitivity is conferred by the S4 transmembrane helix, which contains seven positively charged residues. During gating, the movement of these charges produces gating currents. Mutagenic and fluorescence studies indicate that four of these residues are particularly important and contribute to the majority of gating charge, R362, R365, R368 and R371. The channel is thought to dwell in several closed states prior to opening. Ionic-charge pairing with negatively charged residues in the S2 and S3 helices is thought to be important in regulating these closed states and detailed kinetic models have attempted to define the kinetics and charge of the transitions between these states. Neutral residues throughout the S4 and S5 helices are thought to control late steps in channel opening and may have important roles in modulating the stability of the open state and late closed states. In response to depolarization, the S4 helix is thought to undergo a rotational translation and this movement is also important in studies of the movement of the pore helices, S5 and S6, during opening. This review will examine residues that are important during activation as well as kinetic models that have attempted to quantitatively define the activation pathway of voltage-dependent potassium channels.     

Mutations in the S4 region isolate the final voltage-dependent cooperative step in potassium channel activation

Charged residues in the S4 transmembrane segment play a key role in determining the sensitivity of voltage-gated ion channels to changes in voltage across the cell membrane. However, cooperative interactions between subunits also affect the voltage dependence of channel opening, and these interactions can be altered by making substitutions at uncharged residues in the S4 region. We have studied the activation of two mutant Shaker channels that have different S4 amino acid sequences, ILT (V369I, I372L, and S376T) and Shaw S4 (the S4 of Drosophila Shaw substituted into Shaker), and yet have very similar ionic current properties. Both mutations affect cooperativity, making a cooperative transition in the activation pathway rate limiting and shifting it to very positive voltages, but analysis of gating and ionic current recordings reveals that the ILT and Shaw S4 mutant channels have different activation pathways. Analysis of gating currents suggests that the dominant effect of the ILT mutation is to make the final cooperative transition to the open state of the channel rate limiting in an activation pathway that otherwise resembles that of Shaker. The charge movement associated with the final gating transition in ILT activation can be measured as an isolated component of charge movement in the voltage range of channel opening and accounts for 13% ( approximately 1.8 e0) of the total charge moved in the ILT activation pathway. The remainder of the ILT gating charge (87%) moves at negative voltages, where channels do not open, and confirms the presence of Shaker-like conformational changes between closed states in the activation pathway. In contrast to ILT, the activation pathway of Shaw S4 seems to involve a single cooperative charge-moving step between a closed and an open state. We cannot detect any voltage-dependent transitions between closed states for Shaw S4. Restoring basic residues that are missing in Shaw S4 (R1, R2, and K7) rescues charge movement between closed states in the activation pathway, but does not alter the voltage dependence of the rate-limiting transition in activation.     

ATP-sensitive potassium channels and vascular function

Fluorescence-based approaches provide powerful techniques to directly report structural dynamics underlying gating processes in Shaker K_V channels. Here, following on from work carried out in Shaker channels, we have used voltage clamp fluorimetry for the first time to study voltage sensor motions in mammalian K_V1.5 channels, by attaching TMRM fluorescent probes to substituted cysteine residues in the S3-S4 linker of K_V1.5 (A397C). Compared with the Shaker channel, there are significant differences in the fluorescence signals that occur on activation of the channel. In addition to a well-understood fluorescence quenching signal associated with S4 movement, we have recorded a unique partial recovery of fluorescence after the quenching that is attributable to gating events at the outer pore mouth,¹ that is not seen in Shaker despite significant homology between it and Kv1.5 channels in the S5-P loop-S6 region. Extracellular potassium is known to modulate C-type inactivation in Shaker and K_V channels at sites in the outer pore mouth, and so here we have measured the concentration-dependence of potassium effects on the fluorescence recovery signals from A397C. Elevation of extracellular K⁺ inhibits the rapid fluorescence recovery, with complete abolition at 99 mM K⁺, and an IC₅₀ of 29 mM K⁺_o. These experiments suggest that the rapid fluorescence recovery reflects early gating movements associated with inactivation, modulated by extracellular K⁺, and further support the idea that outer pore motions occur rapidly after K_V1.5 channel opening and can be observed by fluorophores attached to the S3-S4 linker.     

The electrically silent Kv6.4 subunit confers hyperpolarized gating charge movement in Kv2.1/Kv6.4 heterotetrameric channels

The voltage-gated K(+) (Kv) channel subunit Kv6.4 does not form functional homotetrameric channels but co-assembles with Kv2.1 to form functional Kv2.1/Kv6.4 heterotetrameric channels. Compared to Kv2.1 homotetramers, Kv6.4 exerts a ~40 mV hyperpolarizing shift in the voltage-dependence of Kv2.1/Kv6.4 channel inactivation, without a significant effect on activation gating. However, the underlying mechanism of this Kv6.4-induced modulation of Kv2.1 channel inactivation, and whether the Kv6.4 subunit participates in the voltage-dependent gating of heterotetrameric channels is not well understood. Here we report distinct gating charge movement of Kv2.1/Kv6.4 heterotetrameric channels, compared to Kv2.1 homotetramers, as revealed by gating current recordings from mammalian cells expressing these channels. The gating charge movement of Kv2.1/Kv6.4 heterotetrameric channels displayed an extra component around the physiological K(+) equilibrium potential, characterized by a second sigmoidal relationship of the voltage-dependence of gating charge movement. This distinct gating charge displacement reflects movement of the Kv6.4 voltage-sensing domain and has a voltage-dependency that matches the hyperpolarizing shift in Kv2.1/Kv6.4 channel inactivation. These results provide a mechanistic basis for the modulation of Kv2.1 channel inactivation gating kinetics by silent Kv6.4 subunits.     

A dipeptidyl aminopeptidase-like protein remodels gating charge dynamics in Kv4.2 channels

Dipeptidyl aminopeptidase-like proteins (DPLPs) interact with Kv4 channels and thereby induce a profound remodeling of activation and inactivation gating. DPLPs are constitutive components of the neuronal Kv4 channel complex, and recent observations have suggested the critical functional role of the single transmembrane segment of these proteins (Zagha, E., A. Ozaita, S.Y. Chang, M.S. Nadal, U. Lin, M.J. Saganich, T. McCormack, K.O. Akinsanya, S.Y. Qi, and B. Rudy. 2005. J. Biol. Chem. 280:18853-18861). However, the underlying mechanism of action is unknown. We hypothesized that a unique interaction between the Kv4.2 channel and a DPLP found in brain (DPPX-S) may remodel the channel's voltage-sensing domain. To test this hypothesis, we implemented a robust experimental system to measure Kv4.2 gating currents and study gating charge dynamics in the absence and presence of DPPX-S. The results demonstrated that coexpression of Kv4.2 and DPPX-S causes a -26 mV parallel shift in the gating charge-voltage (Q-V) relationship. This shift is associated with faster outward movements of the gating charge over a broad range of relevant membrane potentials and accelerated gating charge return upon repolarization. In sharp contrast, DPPX-S had no effect on gating charge movements of the Shaker B Kv channel. We propose that DPPX-S destabilizes resting and intermediate states in the voltage-dependent activation pathway, which promotes the outward gating charge movement. The remodeling of gating charge dynamics may involve specific protein-protein interactions of the DPPX-S's transmembrane segment with the voltage-sensing and pore domains of the Kv4.2 channel. This mechanism may determine the characteristic fast operation of neuronal Kv4 channels in the subthreshold range of membrane potentials.     

Calculation of the Gating Charge for the Kv1.2 Voltage-Activated Potassium Channel

The atomic models of the Kv1.2 potassium channel in the active and resting state, originally presented elsewhere, are here refined using molecular dynamics simulations in an explicit membrane-solvent environment. With a minor adjustment of the orientation of the first arginine along the S4 segment, the total gating charge of the channel determined from >0.5 μs of molecular dynamics simulation is ∼12-12.7 e, in good accord with experimental estimates for the Shaker potassium channel, indicating that the final models offer a realistic depiction of voltage-gating. In the resting state of Kv1.2, the S4 segment in the voltage-sensing domain (VSD) spontaneously converts into a 3₁₀ helix over a stretch of 10 residues. The 3₁₀ helical conformation orients the gating arginines on S4 toward a water-filled crevice within the VSD and allows salt-bridge interactions with negatively charged residues along S2 and S3. Free energy calculations of the fractional transmembrane potential, acting upon key charged residues of the VSD, reveals that the applied field varies rapidly over a narrow region of 10-15 Å corresponding to the outer leaflet of the bilayer. The focused field allows the transfer of a large gating charge without translocation of S4 across the membrane.     

Molecular template for a voltage sensor in a novel K+ channel. II. Conservation of a eukaryotic sensor fold in a prokaryotic K+ channel

KvLm, a novel bacterial depolarization-activated K(+) (Kv) channel isolated from the genome of Listeria monocytogenes, contains a voltage sensor module whose sequence deviates considerably from the consensus sequence of a Kv channel sensor in that only three out of eight conserved charged positions are present. Surprisingly, KvLm exhibits the steep dependence of the open channel probability on membrane potential that is characteristic of eukaryotic Kv channels whose sensor sequence approximates the consensus. Here we asked if the KvLm sensor shared a similar fold to that of Shaker, the archetypal eukaryotic Kv channel, by examining if interactions between conserved residues in Shaker known to mediate sensor biogenesis and function were conserved in KvLm. To this end, each of the five non-conserved residues in the KvLm sensor were mutated to their Shaker-like charged residues, and the impact of these mutations on the voltage dependence of activation was assayed by current recordings from excised membrane patches of Escherichia coli spheroplasts expressing the KvLm mutants. Conservation of pairwise interactions was investigated by comparison of the effect of single mutations to the impact of double mutations presumed to restore wild-type fold and voltage sensitivity. We observed significant functional coupling between sites known to interact in Shaker Kv channels, supporting the notion that the KvLm sensor largely retains the fold of its eukaryotic homologue.     

Shaker potassium channel gating. II: Transitions in the activation pathway

Voltage-dependent gating behavior of Shaker potassium channels without N-type inactivation (ShB delta 6-46) expressed in Xenopus oocytes was studied. The voltage dependence of the steady-state open probability indicated that the activation process involves the movement of the equivalent of 12-16 electronic charges across the membrane. The sigmoidal kinetics of the activation process, which is maintained at depolarized voltages up to at least +100 mV indicate the presence of at least five sequential conformational changes before opening. The voltage dependence of the gating charge movement suggested that each elementary transition involves 3.5 electronic charges. The voltage dependence of the forward opening rate, as estimated by the single- channel first latency distribution, the final phase of the macroscopic ionic current activation, the ionic current reactivation and the ON gating current time course, showed movement of the equivalent of 0.3 to 0.5 electronic charges were associated with a large number of the activation transitions. The equivalent charge movement of 1.1 electronic charges was associated with the closing conformational change. The results were generally consistent with models involving a number of independent and identical transitions with a major exception that the first closing transition is slower than expected as indicated by tail current and OFF gating charge measurements.