Investigations of the contribution of a putative glycine hinge to ryanodine receptor channel gating.

Ryanodine receptor channels (RyR) are key components of striated muscle excitation-contraction coupling, and alterations in their function underlie both inherited and acquired disease. A full understanding of the disease process will require a detailed knowledge of the mechanisms and structures involved in RyR function. Unfortunately, high-resolution structural data, such as exist for K(+)-selective channels, are not available for RyR. In the absence of these data, we have used modeling to identify similarities in the structural elements of K(+) channel pore-forming regions and postulated equivalent regions of RyR. This has identified a sequence of residues in the cytosolic cavity-lining transmembrane helix of RyR (G(4864)LIIDA(4869) in RyR2) analogous to the glycine hinge motif present in many K(+) channels. Gating in these K(+) channels can be disrupted by substitution of residues for the hinge glycine. We investigated the involvement of glycine 4864 in RyR2 gating by monitoring properties of recombinant human RyR2 channels in which this glycine is replaced by residues that alter gating in K(+) channels. Our data demonstrate that introducing alanine at position 4864 produces no significant change in RyR2 function. In contrast, function is altered when glycine 4864 is replaced by either valine or proline, the former preventing channel opening and the latter modifying both ion translocation and gating. Our studies reveal novel information on the structural basis of RyR gating, identifying both similarities with, and differences from, K(+) channels. Glycine 4864 is not absolutely required for channel gating, but some flexibility at this point in the cavity-lining transmembrane helix is necessary for normal RyR function.

Techniques and methodologies to study the ryanodine receptor at the molecular, subcellular and cellular level.

In excitable tissues, the ryanodine receptor Ca(2+) release channel (RyR) protein complex regulates excitation-contraction coupling, exocytosis, gene expression and apoptosis. Defects in RyR function, in genetic or acquired pathologies, lead to massive disruptions of Ca(2+) release that can be lethal. Therefore, RyR has emerged as a putative therapeutic target and an increasing number of RyR-targeting drugs are currently being tested.Nonetheless this large-size channel is still a mystery in terms of structure, which hinders full characterization of the properties of this central protein. This chapter is dedicated to the methods available to examine RyR structure and function. The aim of the article is to concentrate on contemporary methodologies rather than focusing overtly on the progress that has been achieved using these techniques. Here we review a series of reliable approaches that are routinely employed to investigate this channel. Technical limitations are discussed, and technological developments are presented. This work is not a handbook, but it can be used as a resource and a starting point for the investigation of RyR at different levels of resolution.

Cardiac action potential duration and calcium regulation in males and females.

Adult women have longer QT intervals compared with men of a similar age, indicating differences in the speed of repolarisation of the ventricles. We investigate the influences of gender on ventricular electrophysiology and intracellular Ca(2+) regulation of the guinea pig heart. Comparing sexually mature animals, females exhibited a significantly longer APD. Peak L-type Ca(2+) current (I(CaL)) was larger in females and when this current was inhibited with nifedipine the gender differences in APD were removed. APD differences also disappeared when the SR was depleted of Ca(2+). Inactivation of I(CaL) during a clamp step is faster in females but slower during an action potential and SR Ca(2+) content is larger. We suggest that gender differences in APD result from variation in the kinetics of I(CaL) stemming from alterations to Ca(2+) release.

Effect of flecainide derivatives on sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium release suggests a lack of direct action on the cardiac ryanodine receptor.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Flecainide is a use-dependent blocker of cardiac Na(+) channels. Mechanistic analysis of this block showed that the cationic form of flecainide enters the cytosolic vestibule of the open Na(+) channel. Flecainide is also effective in the treatment of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia but, in this condition, its mechanism of action is contentious. We investigated how flecainide derivatives influence Ca(2) (+) -release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum through the ryanodine receptor channel (RyR2) and whether this correlates with their effectiveness as blockers of Na(+) and/or RyR2 channels. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: We compared the ability of fully charged (QX-FL) and neutral (NU-FL) derivatives of flecainide to block individual recombinant human RyR2 channels incorporated into planar phospholipid bilayers, and their effects on the properties of Ca(2) (+) sparks in intact adult rat cardiac myocytes. KEY RESULTS: Both QX-FL and NU-FL were partial blockers of the non-physiological cytosolic to luminal flux of cations through RyR2 channels but were significantly less effective than flecainide. None of the compounds influenced the physiologically relevant luminal to cytosol cation flux through RyR2 channels. Intracellular flecainide or QX-FL, but not NU-FL, reduced Ca(2) (+) spark frequency. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Given its inability to block physiologically relevant cation flux through RyR2 channels, and its lack of efficacy in blocking the cytosolic-to-luminal current, the effect of QX-FL on Ca(2) (+) sparks is likely, by analogy with flecainide, to result from Na(+) channel block. Our data reveal important differences in the interaction of flecainide with sites in the cytosolic vestibules of Na(+) and RyR2 channels.

A new system for profiling drug-induced calcium signal perturbation in human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

The emergence of human stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte (hSCCM)-based assays in the cardiovascular (CV) drug discovery sphere requires the development of improved systems for interrogating the rich information that these cell models have the potential to yield. We developed a new analytical framework termed SALVO (synchronization, amplitude, length, and variability of oscillation) to profile the amplitude and temporal patterning of intra- and intercellular calcium signals in hSCCM. SALVO quantified drug-induced perturbations in the calcium signaling "fingerprint" in spontaneously contractile hSCCM. Multiparametric SALVO outputs were integrated into a single index of in vitro cytotoxicity that confirmed the rank order of perturbation as astemizole > thioridazine > cisapride > flecainide > valdecoxib > sotalol > nadolol ≈ control. This rank order of drug-induced Ca(2+) signal disruption is in close agreement with the known arrhythmogenic liabilities of these compounds in humans. Validation of the system using a second set of compounds and hierarchical cluster analysis demonstrated the utility of SALVO to discriminate drugs based on their mechanisms of action. We discuss the utility of this new mechanistically agnostic system for the evaluation of in vitro drug cytotoxicity in hSCCM syncytia and the potential placement of SALVO in the early stage drug screening framework.

Functional characterization of the cardiac ryanodine receptor pore-forming region.

Ryanodine receptors are homotetrameric intracellular calcium release channels. The efficiency of these channels is underpinned by exceptional rates of cation translocation through the open channel and this is achieved at the expense of the high degree of selectivity characteristic of many other types of channel. Crystallization of prokaryotic potassium channels has provided insights into the structures and mechanisms responsible for ion selection and movement in these channels, however no equivalent structural detail is currently available for ryanodine receptors. Nevertheless both molecular modeling and cryo-electron microscopy have identified the probable pore-forming region (PFR) of the ryanodine receptor (RyR) and suggest that this region contains structural elements equivalent to those of the PFRs of potassium-selective channels. The aim of the current study was to establish if the isolated putative cardiac RyR (RyR2) PFR could form a functional ion channel. We have expressed and purified the RyR2 PFR and shown that function is retained following reconstitution into planar phospholipid bilayers. Our data provide the first direct experimental evidence to support the proposal that the conduction pathway of RyR2 is formed by structural elements equivalent to those of the potassium channel PFR.

The contribution of hydrophobic residues in the pore-forming region of the ryanodine receptor channel to block by large tetraalkylammonium cations and Shaker B inactivation peptides.

Although no high-resolution structural information is available for the ryanodine receptor (RyR) channel pore-forming region (PFR), molecular modeling has revealed broad structural similarities between this region and the equivalent region of K(+) channels. This study predicts that, as is the case in K(+) channels, RyR has a cytosolic vestibule lined with predominantly hydrophobic residues of transmembrane helices (TM10). In K(+) channels, this vestibule is the binding site for blocking tetraalkylammonium (TAA) cations and Shaker B inactivation peptides (ShBPs), which are stabilized by hydrophobic interactions involving specific residues of the lining helices. We have tested the hypothesis that the cytosolic vestibule of RyR fulfils a similar role and that TAAs and ShBPs are stabilized by hydrophobic interactions with residues of TM10. Both TAAs and ShBPs block RyR from the cytosolic side of the channel. By varying the composition of TAAs and ShBPs, we demonstrate that the affinity of both species is determined by their hydrophobicity, with variations reflecting alterations in the dissociation rate of the bound blockers. We investigated the role of TM10 residues of RyR by monitoring block by TAAs and ShBPs in channels in which the hydrophobicity of individual TM10 residues was lowered by alanine substitution. Although substitutions changed the kinetics of TAA interaction, they produced no significant changes in ShBP kinetics, indicating the absence of specific hydrophobic sites of interactions between RyR and these peptides. Our investigations (a) provide significant new information on both the mechanisms and structural components of the RyR PFR involved in block by TAAs and ShBPs, (b) highlight important differences in the mechanisms and structures determining TAA and ShBP block in RyR and K(+) channels, and (c) demonstrate that although the PFRs of these channels contain analogous structural components, significant differences in structure determine the distinct ion-handling properties of the two species of channel.