Ryanodine stabilizes multiple conformational states of the skeletal muscle calcium release channel.

Nanomolar to micromolar ryanodine alters the gating kinetics of the Ca2+ release channel from skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) fused with bilayer lipid membranes (BLM). In the presence of asymmetric CsCl and 100 microM CaCl2 cis, ryanodine (RY) (5-40 nM) activates the channel, increasing the open probability (po; maximum 300% of control) without changing unitary conductance (468 picosiemens (pS)). Statistical analyses of gating kinetics reveal that open and closed dwell times exhibit biexponential distributions and are significantly modified by nanomolar RY. Altered channel gating kinetics with low nanomolar RY is fully reversible and correlates well with binding kinetics of nanomolar 3H]RY with its high affinity site (Kd1 = 0.7 nM) under identical experimental conditions. RY (20-50 nM) induces occasional 1/2 conductance fluctuations which correlate with 3H]RY binding to a second site having lower affinity (Kd2 = 23 nM). RY (5-50 nM) in the presence of 500 mM CsCl significantly enhances Ca(2+)-induced Ca2+ release from actively loaded SR vesicles. Ryanodine > or = 50 nM stabilizes the channel in a 234-pS subconductance which is not readily reversible. RY (> or = 70 microM) produces a unidirectional transition from the 1/2 to a 1/4 conductance fluctuation, whereas RY > or = 200 microM causes complete closure of the channel. The RY required for stabilizing 1/4 conductance transitions and channel closure do not quantitatively correlate with 3H]RY equilibrium binding constants and is attributed to significant reduction in association kinetics with > 200 nM 3H]RY in the presence of 500 mM CsCl. These results demonstrate that RY stabilizes four discrete states of the SR release channel and supports the existence of multiple interacting RY effector sites on the channel protein.