Abstract
Cardiac IKs, the slowly activated delayed-rectifier K + current, is produced by the protein complex composed of α- and β-subunits: KvLQT1 and minK. Mutations of genes encoding KvLQT1 and minK are responsible for the hereditary long QT syndrome (loci LQT1 and LQT5, respectively). MinK-L51H fails to traffic to the cell surface, thereby failing to produce effective IKs. We examined the effects that minK-L51H and an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-targeted minK (minK-ER) exerted over the electrophysiology and biosynthesis of coexpressed KvLQT1. Both minK-L51H and minK-ER were sequestered primarily in the ER as confirmed by lack of plasma membrane expression. Glycosylation and immunofluorescence patterns of minK-L51H were qualitatively different for minK-ER, suggesting differences in trafficking. Cotransfection with the minK mutants resulted in reduced surface expression of KvLQT1 as assayed by whole cell voltage clamp and immunofluorescence. MinK-L51H reduced current amplitude by 91% compared with wild-type (WT) minK/KvLQT1, and the residual current was identical to KvLQT1 without minK. The phenotype of minK-L51H on IKs was not dominant because coexpressed WT minK rescued the current and surface expression. Collectively, our data suggest that ER quality control prevents minK-L51H/KvLQT1 complexes from trafficking to the plasma membrane, resulting in decreased IKs. This is the first demonstration that a minK LQT mutation is capable of conferring trafficking defects onto its associated α-subunit.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | C1453-C1463 |
Journal | American Journal of Physiology - Cell Physiology |
Volume | 286 |
Issue number | 6 55-6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2004 |
Keywords
- Electrophysiology
- Hereditary arrhythmia
- Potassium channel
- Protein interaction
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Cell Biology