The Journal of General Physiology
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Published 26 August 2002. doi:10.1085/jgp.20028605
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© Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1295/2002/9/267/ $5.00
Journal of General Physiology, Volume 120, Number 3, September 2002 267-305
Coupling between Voltage Sensor Activation, Ca2+ Binding and Channel Opening in Large Conductance (BK) Potassium Channels

Frank T. Horrigan1 and Richard W. Aldrich2

1 Department of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104
2 Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305

Address correspondence to Dr. Frank T. Horrigan, Department of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, A401 Richards, 3700 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Fax: (215) 573-5851; E-mail: horrigan{at}mail.med.upenn.edu

To determine how intracellular Ca2+ and membrane voltage regulate the gating of large conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (BK) channels, we examined the steady-state and kinetic properties of mSlo1 ionic and gating currents in the presence and absence of Ca2+ over a wide range of voltage. The activation of unliganded mSlo1 channels can be accounted for by allosteric coupling between voltage sensor activation and the closed (C) to open (O) conformational change (Horrigan, F.T., and R.W. Aldrich. 1999. J. Gen. Physiol. 114:305–336; Horrigan, F.T., J. Cui, and R.W. Aldrich. 1999. J. Gen. Physiol. 114:277–304). In 0 Ca2+, the steady-state gating charge-voltage (QSS-V) relationship is shallower and shifted to more negative voltages than the conductance-voltage (GK-V) relationship. Calcium alters the relationship between Q-V and G-V, shifting both to more negative voltages such that they almost superimpose in 70 µM Ca2+. This change reflects a differential effect of Ca2+ on voltage sensor activation and channel opening. Ca2+ has only a small effect on the fast component of ON gating current, indicating that Ca2+ binding has little effect on voltage sensor activation when channels are closed. In contrast, open probability measured at very negative voltages (less than -80 mV) increases more than 1,000-fold in 70 µM Ca2+, demonstrating that Ca2+ increases the C-O equilibrium constant under conditions where voltage sensors are not activated. Thus, Ca2+ binding and voltage sensor activation act almost independently, to enhance channel opening. This dual-allosteric mechanism can reproduce the steady-state behavior of mSlo1 over a wide range of conditions, with the assumption that activation of individual Ca2+ sensors or voltage sensors additively affect the energy of the C-O transition and that a weak interaction between Ca2+ sensors and voltage sensors occurs independent of channel opening. By contrast, macroscopic IK kinetics indicate that Ca2+ and voltage dependencies of C-O transition rates are complex, leading us to propose that the C-O conformational change may be described by a complex energy landscape.

Key Words: calcium • potassium channel • BK channel • gating current • ion channel gating


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