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The D3-dopaminergic agonist 7-hydroxy-dipropylaminotetralin (7-OH-DPAT) increases cardiac action potential duration and blocks human ether-a-go-go-related gene K+ channel.

The D3-dopaminergic agonist (+/-) 7-hydroxy-dipropylaminotetralin (7-OH-DPAT) prolonged cycle length and action potential duration, depolarized maximum diastolic potential, and reduced the upstroke velocity of the action potential of rabbit sinoatrial node cells. These effects were not mediated by D3-dopaminergic receptors. In cat Purkinje fibers, the drug increased action potential duration. In voltage-clamped cat ventricular myocytes, 7-OH-DPAT blocked the rapid component of the delayed rectifier potassium current, IKr. This effect was corroborated in experiments studying the effect of the drug on human Ether-a-go-go-related Gene channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes and in HEK293 cells. We conclude that the direct electrophysiologic effects of 7-OH-DPAT on cardiac tissues are caused by the blockade of the rapid component of the delayed rectifier potassium current, IKr.

Action Potentials↗

Activation of human ether-a-go-go-related gene potassium channels by the diphenylurea 1,3-bis-(2-hydroxy-5-trifluoromethyl-phenyl)-urea (NS1643).

The cardiac action potential is generated by a concerted action of different ion channels and transporters. Dysfunction of any of these membrane proteins can give rise to cardiac arrhythmias, which is particularly true for the repolarizing potassium channels. We suggest that an increased repolarization current could be a new antiarrhythmic principle, because it possibly would attenuate afterdepolarizations, ischemic leak currents, and reentry phenomena. Repolarization of the cardiac myocytes is crucially dependent on the late rapid delayed rectifier current (I(Kr)) conducted by ether-a-go-go-related gene (ERG) potassium channels. We have developed the diphenylurea compound 1,3-bis-(2-hydroxy-5-trifluoromethyl-phenyl)-urea (NS1643) and tested whether this small organic molecule could increase the activity of human ERG (HERG) channels expressed heterologously. In Xenopus laevis oocytes, NS1643 increased both steady-state and tail current at all voltages tested. The EC(50) value for HERG channel activation was 10.5 microM. These results were reproduced on HERG channels expressed in mammalian human embryonic kidney 293 cells. In guinea pig cardiomyocytes, studied by patch clamp, application of 10 microM NS1643 activated I(Kr) and significantly decreased the action potential duration to 65% of the control values. The effect could be reverted by application of the specific HERG channel inhibitor 4'-[[1-[2-(6-methyl-2-pyridyl)ethyl]-4-piperidinyl]carbonyl]-methanesulfonanilide (E-4031) at 100 nM. Application of NS1643 also resulted in a prolonged postrepolarization refractory time. Finally, cardiomyocytes exposed to NS1643 resisted reactivation by small depolarizing currents mimicking early afterdepolarizations. In conclusion, HERG channel activation by small molecules such as NS1643 increases the repolarization reserve and presents an interesting new antiarrhythmic approach.

Action Potentials↗

Improvement of repolarization abnormalities by a K+ channel opener in the LQT1 form of congenital long-QT syndrome.

BACKGROUND: This study used monophasic action potential (MAP) to examine the effect of nicorandil, a K+ channel opener, on repolarization abnormalities induced by epinephrine in the LQT1 form of congenital long-QT syndrome in which the KvLQT1 mutation underlies the defect in the channel responsible for the slowly activating component of the delayed rectifier potassium current. METHODS AND RESULTS: MAPs were recorded simultaneously from two or three sites on the right ventricular and left ventricular endocardium in 6 patients with a congenital form of LQT1 syndrome with KvLQT1 defect (17 sites) and 8 control patients (24 sites). In LQT1 patients, epinephrine infusion prolonged the QT interval and 90% MAP duration (MAPD90) and increased the dispersion of MAPD90. Epinephrine also induced early after depolarizations (EADs) as well as ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) in 2 of the 6 patients. Nicorandil during epinephrine infusion abbreviated the QT interval and MAPD90, decreased the dispersion of MAPD90, and abolished the EADs as well as the VPCs in 1 patient. Addition of propranolol completely reversed the effect of epinephrine in prolonging the QT interval and MAPD90 and increasing the dispersion and eliminated the EADs and VPCs in another patient. In control patients, the effect of epinephrine and that of additional nicorandil and propranolol on repolarization parameters were much less than in the LQT1 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that nicorandil, a K+ channel opener, improves repolarization abnormalities in the LQT1 form of congenital long-QT syndrome with KvLQT1 defect.

Adolescent↗

Ethanol excitation of dopaminergic ventral tegmental area neurons is blocked by quinidine.

The dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are important for the reinforcing effects of ethanol. We have shown that ethanol directly excites DA VTA neurons and reduces the afterhyperpolarization (AHP) that follows spontaneous action potentials in these neurons. These data suggested that ethanol may be increasing the firing rate of DA VTA neurons by modulating currents that contribute to the AHP, either by reducing a K+ current or by increasing the inward current Ih. In the present study, different blockers of K+ channels and Ih were tested to determine whether any could prevent the ethanol excitation of DA VTA neurons. Extracellular single-unit recordings and whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were made from DA VTA neurons in brain slices from Fischer-344 rats and ethanol (40-120 mM) and channel blockers were applied in the bath. Ethanol excitation was not reduced by blockade of Ih with cesium (5 mM) or ZD7288 (30 microM), or by block of G-protein-coupled inwardly rectifying K+ channels with barium (500 microM). Tetraethylammonium (TEA) ion (2-10 mM), which blocks the large conductance calcium-dependent potassium K+ current and some types of delayed rectifier currents, had no effect on the ethanol-induced excitation. Interestingly, ethanol excitation of DA VTA neurons was blocked by quinidine (20-80 microM), a drug that blocks many types of delayed rectifier K+ channels, including some insensitive to TEA. This effect of quinidine was concentration-dependent and reversible. These results suggest that ethanol excites DA VTA neurons by reducing a quinidine-sensitive K+ current.

Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists↗

Ion channel regulation of the dynamical instability of the resting membrane potential in saccular hair cells of the green frog (Rana esculenta).

AIMS: We investigated the ion channel regulation of the resting membrane potential of hair cells with the aim to determine if the resting membrane potential is poised close to instability and thereby a potential cause of the spontaneous afferent spike activity. METHODS: The ionic mechanism and the dynamic properties of the resting membrane potential were examined with the whole-cell patch clamp technique in dissociated saccular hair cells and in a mathematical model including all identified ion channels. RESULTS: In hair cells showing I/V curves with a low membrane conductance flanked by large inward and outward rectifying potassium conductances, the inward rectifier (K(IR)), the delayed outward rectifier (K(V)) and the large conductance, calcium-sensitive, voltage-gated potassium channel (BK(Ca)) were all activated at rest. Under current clamp conditions, the outward current through these channels balanced the inward current through mechano-electrical transduction (MET) and Ca2+ channels. In 45% (22/49) of the cells, the membrane potential fluctuated spontaneously between two voltage levels determined by the voltage extent of the low membrane conductance range. These fluctuations were not influenced by blocking the MET channels but could be reversibly stopped by increasing [K+]o or by blocking of K(IR) channels. Blocking the BK(Ca) channels induced regular voltage oscillations. CONCLUSIONS: Two intrinsic dynamical instabilities of V(m) are present in hair cells. One of these is observed as spontaneous voltage fluctuations by currents through K(IR), K(V) and h-channels in combination with a steady current through MET channels. The other instability shows as regenerative voltage changes involving Ca2+ and K(V) channels. The BK(Ca) channels prevent the spontaneous voltage fluctuations from activating the regenerative system.

Animals↗

Structural determinants of the regulation of the voltage-gated potassium channel Kv2.1 by the modulatory α-subunit Kv9.3.

Voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels containing alpha-subunits of the Kv2 subfamily mediate delayed rectifier currents in excitable cells. Channels formed by Kv2.1 alpha-subunits inactivate from open- and closed states with both forms of inactivation serving different physiological functions. Here we show that open- and closed-state inactivation of Kv2.1 can be distinguished by the sensitivity to intracellular tetraethylammonium and extracellular potassium and lead to the same inactivated conformation. The functional properties of Kv2.1 are regulated by its association with modulatory alpha-subunits (Kv5, Kv6, Kv8, and Kv9). For instance, Kv9.3 changes the state preference of Kv2.1 inactivation by accelerating closed-state inactivation and inhibiting open-state inactivation. An N-terminal regulatory domain (NRD) has been suggested to determine the function of the modulatory alpha-subunit Kv8.1. However, when we tested the NRD of Kv9.3, we found that the functional properties of chimeric Kv2.1 channels containing the NRD of Kv9.3 (Kv2.1(NRD)) did not resemble those of Kv2.1/Kv9.3 heteromers, thus questioning the role of the NRD in Kv9 subunits. A further region of interest is a PXP motif in the sixth transmembrane segment. This motif is conserved among all alpha-subunits of the Kv1, Kv2, Kv3, and Kv4 subfamilies, whereas the second proline is not conserved in any modulatory alpha-subunit. Exchanging this proline in Kv2.1 for the corresponding residue of Kv9.3 resulted in channels (Kv2.1-P410T) that show all hallmarks of the regulation of Kv2.1 by Kv9.3. The effect prevailed in heteromeric channels following co-expression of Kv2.1-P410T with Kv2.1. These data suggest that the alteration of the PXP motif is an important determinant of the regulatory function of modulatory alpha-subunits.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Vesnarinone: a new inotropic agent for treating congestive heart failure.

Vesnarinone is a new and novel inotropic drug that has unique and complex mechanisms of action. It inhibits phosphodiesterase, thereby leading to increased intracellular calcium, and also affects numerous myocardial ion channels, resulting in the prolongation of the opening time of sodium channels and the decrease in the delayed outward and inward rectifying potassium current. In vitro, it has also demonstrated significant effects on cytokine production, which may account for some of its observed clinical benefits. Hemodynamic studies in humans with congestive heart failure reveal that vesnarinone can improve ventricular function. Placebo-controlled studies in large numbers of patients with heart failure have suggested a morbidity and mortality benefit with a 60 mg daily dose. There is increased mortality with vesnarinone at the 120 mg daily dose, however, suggesting a narrow therapeutic window for the drug. Its predominant toxic side effect is a 2% incidence of reversible neutropenia.

Cardiotonic Agents↗

Modulation of ionic currents in isolated canine and human jejunal circular smooth muscle cells by fluoxetine.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Fluoxetine is a commonly prescribed antidepressant with frequent gastrointestinal side effects. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of fluoxetine on isolated canine and human jejunal circular smooth muscle cells. METHODS: Patch clamp and dual wavelength ratio techniques were used. RESULTS: In amphotericin-perforated patch whole-cell recordings, fluoxetine at 100 nmol/L, 1 mumol/L, and 10 mumol/L concentrations decreased the outwardly delayed rectifier potassium current in canine cells by 12% +/- 3%, 27% +/- 12%, and 37% +/- 3%, respectively, and depolarized the membrane potential by 9.7 +/- 1.8 mV at 10 mumol/L. At 100 mumol/L and 1 mmol/L concentrations, fluoxetine increased the outward current by 88% +/- 40% and 475% +/- 270%, respectively. The increase in the outward current was blocked by charybdotoxin, suggesting an effect on the calcium-activated potassium current. In human cells, fluoxetine at 1 mumol/L decreased the outward potassium current by 26% +/- 4% and at 100 mumol/L increased the outward potassium current by 134% +/- 22%. CONCLUSIONS: Fluoxetine had direct effects on canine and human jejunal circular smooth muscle cells. Low concentrations decreased the outwardly delayed rectifier potassium current, and higher concentrations activated calcium-activated potassium channels. The results may in part explain the frequent gastrointestinal side effects of the drug.

Animals↗

Blockade of multiple human cardiac potassium currents by the antihistamine terfenadine: possible mechanism for terfenadine-associated cardiotoxicity.

Use of the antihistamine terfenadine has been associated with QT prolongation and torsade de pointes. One possible mechanism is blockade of cardiac potassium channels. We therefore characterized the effects of terfenadine on potassium currents recorded from isolated human cardiac myocytes. We demonstrated terfenadine block of the transient outward current and a novel, ultra-rapidly activating, delayed rectifier K+ current (IKur), which is very sensitive to 4-aminopyridine. IKur is probably produced by the protein product of Kv1.5a, a Shaker-like potassium channel cDNA cloned from human heart. We also compared terfenadine blockade of fHK (Kv1.5a) currents stably expressed in a human embryonic kidney cell line with terfenadine blockade of IKur in human atrial myocytes. Using the patch-clamp technique, we found that terfenadine produced a time-dependent reduction in Kv1.5a current that was consistent with blockade from the cytoplasmic side of the channel. The terfenadine-sensitive Kv1.5a current in human embryonic kidney cells was similar to the 4-aminopyridine-sensitive current in human atrial myocytes. In addition to blockade of the transient outward current and IKur, terfenadine at clinically relevant concentrations blocked both the rapidly and slowly activating components of the delayed rectifier in human atrial myocytes. Blockade of these K+ currents may contribute to the cardiotoxicity associated with terfenadine usage.

Atrial Function↗

Visual adaptation modulates a potassium conductance in retinular cells of the crayfish.

Crayfish photoreceptors exhibit a voltage-dependent potassium conductance, G(K), that is generally similar to the delayed rectifier channel described in neurons and other arthropod retinular cells. G(K) activation (i.e. the apparent threshold, Vth) occurs near the resting potential and G(K) is substantially reduced by 25 mM extracellular tetraethylammonium (TEA) and by intracellular Cs+ injections. Light exposure, sufficient to reduce visual sensitivity 100-fold, increases Vth (shifts it in the depolarizing direction) by about 20 mV. The light-dependent change in Vth does not depend upon the corresponding increase (depolarization) of the steady-state membrane potential nor does it depend upon inward calcium currents. Vth is slightly influenced by fluctuations in Ko associated with the light-elicited currents. During light exposure Ko (measured with K+-sensitive electrodes) increases by 2.1 mM (equivalent to an 8 mV increase in E(K)). This increase in E(K) makes only a modest contribution to the light-dependent change in Vth as determined by perfusion with high potassium salines. Intracellular calcium injections increase Vth by 10 to 20 mV and reduce visual sensitivity by 5- to 10-fold. The results imply that during exposure to high levels of illumination, K+ currents at the steady-state membrane potential are diminished by a calcium-dependent change in G(K) gating and, to a smaller degree, by a reduced K+ concentration gradient. It is notable that Ca2+ appears to inhibit both G(K) and the light-elicited conductance from both inside and outside the plasma membrane. As a consequence of the light-dependent change in Vth, G(K) makes only modest contributions to the changes in sensitivity and speed normally associated with light adaptation. These functions are regulated by the transduction pathway and are revealed at the resting potential in the time course and magnitude of the light-elicited currents.

Adaptation, Ocular↗

Sodium and potassium channels in epithelial cells from thymus glands and thymomas of myasthenia gravis patients.

In both normal and neoplastic epithelial cells from human thymus glands and thymomas, respectively, we found voltage-gated sodium and potassium channels that resemble the adult-type Na channel and the delayed outward rectifier K channel, respectively, of human skeletal muscle and mammalian nervous system. These voltage-gated ion channels might be part of a communication system between epithelial cells and other components of the microenvironment of the thymus.

Electric Conductivity↗

Heterologous expression of the human potassium channel Kv2.1 in clonal mammalian cells by direct cytoplasmic microinjection of cRNA.

The cloned human delayed rectifying K+ channel Kv2.1 (drk1) was expressed in clonal mouse fibroblasts (L-cells) and rat basophilic leukemia cells (RBL-1) by direct cytoplasmic microinjection of complementary RNA (cRNA). Within six hours, cells microinjected with Kv2.1 cRNA expressed a large sustained outward current as determined from whole-cell patch-clamp recordings. Nearly 100% of cells injected with cRNA expressed outward current. Current density was 30-70 pA/pF when measured at a potential of +50 mV. Steady-state activation and inactivation parameters for Kv2.1 were similar when expressed in either L-cells or RBL-1 cells. These results are the first to demonstrate that functional ion channel proteins can be expressed in mammalian clonal cell lines by direct cytoplasmic microinjection of cRNA.

Animals↗

A mutation in HERG associated with notched T waves in long QT syndrome.

Long QT syndrome (LQT) is a genetically heterogeneous inherited disorder that causes sudden death from cardiac arrhythmia. Four loci have been mapped to chromosomes 3, 4, 7 and 11 and three specific mutated genes for LQT syndrome have been identified. LQT2 results from mutations in the human ether-a-gogo-related gene, HERG, a cardiac potassium channel, whose protein product likely underlies Ikd the rapidly activating delayed rectifier current. By SSCP analysis and direct sequencing, we determined a new missense mutation in the HERG coding sequence, a G to A transition at position 1681 resulting in the substitution of threonine for a highly conserved alanine at codon 561. This mutation, Ala561Thr, in the coding sequence of the fifth membrane-spanning domain (S5) of the HERG protein seems to convey a risk of cardiac events in affected family members. In addition to a prolonged T wave of low amplitude on the surface ECG, a distinctive biphasic T-wave pattern was found in the left precordial leads of all affected subjects with the Ala561Thr mutation regardless of age, gender and beta blocking therapy.

Adolescent↗

Prenatal morphine exposure decreases analgesia but not K+ channel activation.

The present study has investigated the possible supraspinal adaptive changes induced by prenatal administration of morphine, including morphine-induced supraspinal antinociception in vivo, the density and binding affinity of mu-opioid receptors in the brain and the cellular action of morphine in brain slices in vitro. The cellular action of morphine was assessed by its activation of K+ channels in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (PAG), a crucial area for the supraspinal analgesic effect of morphine. Female rats were treated with morphine 7 days before mating at 2 mg/kg. The treatment was continued during pregnancy and after delivery at doses which increased by 1 mg/kg every 2 weeks. Experiments were conducted in the offspring at p14 days. Prenatal morphine exposure induced tolerance to supraspinal morphine-induced tail-flick response. The binding affinity and maximal binding of [(3)H]DAMGO in whole brain were not significant different between the morphine- or saline-treated dams. Autoradiographic analysis shows that the mu-opioid receptor density was decreased in the striatum, thalamus and amygdala but not in the midbrain, nucleus accumbens, hippocampus or cortex in morphine offspring. In ventrolateral PAG neurons, morphine activated inwardly rectifying K+ channels in 59% of recorded neurons of morphine offspring. Neither the magnitude of K channel activation nor the percentage of sensitive neurons was different between the saline- and morphine-treated offspring. It is concluded that prenatal morphine exposure induces tolerance to supraspinal analgesia and this tolerance is not attributed to a change in the mu-opioid receptor density or the receptor-function coupling efficiency in the midbrain periaqueductal gray.

Animals↗

[The first original Russian class-III antiarrhythmic nibentan].

The paper presents experimental and clinical findings of the new antiarrhythmic drug nibentan. The agent was found to be a class-III antiarrhythmic agent in terms of its electrophysiological effects and an inhibitor of the delayed rectifier potassium current in terms of its effects on the ionic channels of cardiomyocytes. The clinical trial of nibentan shows that the drug is highly effective (in 70-100% of cases) in patients with atrial flutter and fibrillation and in those with supraventricular tachycardia and it is less effective in suppressing ventricular premature contractions and tachycardia. The rate of arrhythmogenic effects produced by the drug was inversely related to its antiarrhythmic action. Nibentan has been approved for clinical use.

Animals↗

Barium inhibits the endothelium-dependent component of flow but not acetylcholine-induced relaxation in isolated rabbit cerebral arteries.

An increase in blood flow can cause vasodilation through a local action on the blood vessel wall. We examined the involvement of potassium channels in the relaxation of segments of the rabbit middle cerebral artery to intraluminal infusion of physiological saline. In segments with intact endothelium, intraluminal flow (20 microliters/min) produced a relaxation of 81.7 +/- 3.0% of pre-flow tone. This relaxation was significantly reduced upon endothelium removal (43%, n = 5) or inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (34%, n = 6). Inhibition of nitric oxide synthase had no effect on the relaxation in endothelium denuded preparations. This suggests that the overall response to flow is a combination of endothelium/nitric oxide dependent and smooth muscle components. Barium chloride (10 and 300 microM) reduced flow-induced relaxations by 30 and 61%, respectively, in intact arteries but had no effect following endothelium removal or nitric oxide synthase inhibition. Micromolar concentrations of barium are thought to block selectively the inward rectifier potassium channel. These concentrations of barium were without effect on the relaxation produced by the endothelium-dependent vasodilator acetylcholine. Blockers of other potassium channels, glibenclamide (10 microM, ATP-sensitive K+ channel), charybdotoxin (100 nN) and tetraethylammonium (0.3 mM, Ca(++)-activated K+ channel) and 4-aminopyridine (1 mM, delayed rectifier K+ channel) did not effect either endothelium-dependent or endothelium-independent flow-induced relaxation. Our results suggest that flow-induced shear stress activates endothelial cell inward rectifier potassium channels leading to increased synthesis/release of nitric oxide.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acetylcholine↗

[Cardiac effects of antipsychotics: mechanism of arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death].

The review summarizes experimental and clinical data showing the cardiac side effects of antipsychotic drugs. Some antipsychotics may correlate with prolongation of QT interval, induce ventricular tachycardia, torsades de pointes, TdP, and sudden death. The author surveys the cellular actions of the drugs, the electrophysiological mechanisms and the recent data referring the drug's effects on ionic currents, mainly potassium currents. Most antipsychotics are associated with the inhibition of delayed rectifier K+ channels. Comparing the potency on K+ channel inhibition and the prolongation of the QT interval with the therapeutic plasma levels of the drugs, the difference between the inhibitory potency and the therapeutic dose is the highest in the case of quetiapine, olanzepine and risperidone, while thioridazine shows the smallest difference. All drugs that cause TdP prolong the QT interval and inhibit the K+ rectifier channel, but the relationship is not precise. Some additional cellular effects of particular agents, modulating conditions, factors (diseases, electrolytes disturbances, genetic damage, drug interactions) make the individual vulnerable to arrhythmia. The paper highlights drug interactions causing risk of arrhythmia during chronic treatment of psychiatric patients.

Action Potentials↗

Inactivation of the ERG current in NG108-15 cells.

Differentiated NG108-15 neuroblastoma x glioma hybrid cells were whole-cell voltage clamped. The rate of inactivation of ERG (ether-à-go-go related gene) potassium channels was measured with a three-pulse protocol. Contamination with delayed rectifier current at positive potentials was avoided by using the selective ERG channel blocker E-4031. The curve relating time constant of inactivation tau to membrane potential V could be fitted by a Gauss curve. In a bath with 40 mM K(+), the curve peaked at V = -36 mV. Lowering [K(+)](o) decreased tau. At V = -20 mV, the average tau was 25.4 ms in 40 mM K(+), 20.6 ms in 6.5 mM K(+), and 15.0 ms in 0 mM K(+). This resembles the relation between tau and [K(+)](o) in ERG channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes.

Animals↗