TY - JOUR
T1 - SK3-1C, a Dominant-negative Suppressor of SKCa and IK Ca Channels
AU - Kolski-Andreaco, Aaron
AU - Tomita, Hiroaki
AU - Shakkottai, Vikram G.
AU - Gutman, George A.
AU - Cahalan, Michael D.
AU - Gargus, J. Jay
AU - Chandy, K. George
PY - 2004/2/20
Y1 - 2004/2/20
N2 - Small conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels, products of the SK1-SK3 genes, regulate membrane axcitability both within and outside the nervous system. We report the characterization of a SK3 variant (SK3-1C) that differs from SK3 by utilizing an alternative first exon (exon 1C) in place of exon 1A used by SK3, but is otherwise identical to SK3. Quantitative RT-PCR detected abundant expression of SK3-1C transcripts in human lymphoid tissues, skeletal muscle, trachea, and salivary gland but not the nervous system. SK3-1C did not produce functional channels when expressed alone in mammalian cells, but suppressed SK1, SK2, SK3, and IKCa1 channels, but not BKCa of or KV channels. Confocal microscopy revealed that SK3-1C sequestered SK3 protein intracellularly. Dominant-inhibitory activity of SK3-1C was not due to a nonspecific calmodulin sponge effect since overexpression of calmodulin did not reverse SK3-1C-mediated intracellular trapping of SK3 protein, and calmodulin-Ca2+-dependent inactivation of CAV channels was not affected by SK3-1C overexpression. Deletion analysis identified a dominant-inhibitory segment in the SK3-1C C terminus that resembles tetramerization-coiled-coiled domains reported to enhance tetramer stability and selectivity of multimerization of many K+ channels. SK3-1C may therefore suppress calmodulin-gated SKCa/IKCa channels by trapping these channel proteins intracellularly via subunit interactions mediated by the dominant-inhibitory segment and thereby reduce functional channel expression on the cell surface. Such family-wide dominant-negative suppression by SK3-1C provides a powerful mechanism to titrate membrane excitability and is a useful approach to define the functional in vivo role of these channels in diverse tissues by their targeted silencing.
AB - Small conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels, products of the SK1-SK3 genes, regulate membrane axcitability both within and outside the nervous system. We report the characterization of a SK3 variant (SK3-1C) that differs from SK3 by utilizing an alternative first exon (exon 1C) in place of exon 1A used by SK3, but is otherwise identical to SK3. Quantitative RT-PCR detected abundant expression of SK3-1C transcripts in human lymphoid tissues, skeletal muscle, trachea, and salivary gland but not the nervous system. SK3-1C did not produce functional channels when expressed alone in mammalian cells, but suppressed SK1, SK2, SK3, and IKCa1 channels, but not BKCa of or KV channels. Confocal microscopy revealed that SK3-1C sequestered SK3 protein intracellularly. Dominant-inhibitory activity of SK3-1C was not due to a nonspecific calmodulin sponge effect since overexpression of calmodulin did not reverse SK3-1C-mediated intracellular trapping of SK3 protein, and calmodulin-Ca2+-dependent inactivation of CAV channels was not affected by SK3-1C overexpression. Deletion analysis identified a dominant-inhibitory segment in the SK3-1C C terminus that resembles tetramerization-coiled-coiled domains reported to enhance tetramer stability and selectivity of multimerization of many K+ channels. SK3-1C may therefore suppress calmodulin-gated SKCa/IKCa channels by trapping these channel proteins intracellularly via subunit interactions mediated by the dominant-inhibitory segment and thereby reduce functional channel expression on the cell surface. Such family-wide dominant-negative suppression by SK3-1C provides a powerful mechanism to titrate membrane excitability and is a useful approach to define the functional in vivo role of these channels in diverse tissues by their targeted silencing.
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U2 - 10.1074/jbc.M311725200
DO - 10.1074/jbc.M311725200
M3 - Article
C2 - 14638680
AN - SCOPUS:1342282955
SN - 0021-9258
VL - 279
SP - 6893
EP - 6904
JO - Journal of Biological Chemistry
JF - Journal of Biological Chemistry
IS - 8
ER -