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The eggs of the sea urchin Tetrapigus niger contain calcium channels sensitive to cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR). Single channel analysis was conducted on calcium channels from microsomal fractions of the sea urchin eggs. These channels were activated by calcium, adenosine triphosphate, caffeine and cADPR. Modulation by cADPR is believed to occur through calcium ions, calmodulin and magnesium.

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) susceptibility has been recently linked to a novel variant of β1a subunit of the dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR), a channel essential for Ca2+ regulation in skeletal muscle. Here we evaluate the effect of the mutant variant V156A on the structure/function of DHPR β1a subunit and assess its role on Ca2+ metabolism of cultured myotubes. Using differential scanning fluorimetry, we show that mutation V156A causes a significant reduction in thermal stability of the Src homology 3/guanylate kinase core domain of β1a subunit. Expression of the variant subunit in β1-null mouse myotubes resulted in increased sensitivity to caffeine stimulation. Whole cell patch-clamp analysis of β1a-V156A-expressing myotubes revealed a -2 mV shift in voltage dependence of channel activation, but no changes in Ca2+ conductance, current kinetics, or sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ load were observed. Measurement of resting free Ca2+ and Na concentrations shows that both cations were significantly elevated in β1a-V156A-expressing myotubes and that these changes were linked to increased rates of plasmalemmal Ca2+ entry through Na/Ca2+ exchanger and/or transient receptor potential canonical channels. Overall, our data show that mutant variant V156A results in instability of protein subdomains of β1a subunit leading to a phenotype of Ca2+ dysregulation that partly resembles that of other MH-linked mutations of DHPR α1S subunit. These data prove that homozygous expression of variant β1a-V156A has the potential to be a pathological variant, although it may require other gene defects to cause a full MH phenotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The skeletal muscle dihydropyridine receptor α1S subunit plays a key role in skeletal muscle excitation-contraction coupling by sensing membrane voltage changes and then triggering intracellular calcium release. The cytoplasmic loops connecting four homologousα1S structural domains have diverse functions, but their structural arrangement is poorly understood. Here, we used a novel FRET-based method to characterize the relative proximity of these intracellular loops in α1S subunits expressed in intact cells. In dysgenic myotubes, energy transfer was observed from an N-terminal-fused YFP to a FRET acceptor, ReAsH (resorufin arsenical hairpin binder), targeted to eachα1S intracellular loop, with the highest FRET efficiencies measured to theα1S II-III loop and C-terminal tail. However, in HEK-293T cells, FRET efficiencies from theα1SNterminus to the II-III and III-IV loops and the C-terminal tail were significantly lower, thus suggesting that these loop structures are influenced by the cellular microenvironment. The addition of the β1a dihydropyridine receptor subunit enhanced FRET to the II-III loop, thus indicating that β1a binding directly affects II-III loop conformation. This specific structural change required the C-terminal 36 amino acids of β1a, which are essential to support EC coupling. Direct FRET measurements between α1S and β1a confirmed that both wild type and truncated β1a bind similarly to α1S. These results provide new insights into the role of muscle-specific proteins on the structural arrangement of α1S intracellular loops and point to a new conformational effect of theβ1a subunit in supporting skeletal muscle excitation-contraction coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triadin (Tdn) and Junctin (Jct) are structurally related transmembrane proteins thought to be key mediators of structural and functional interactions between calsequestrin (CASQ) and ryanodine receptor (RyRs) at the junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum (jSR). However, the specific contribution of each protein to the jSR architecture and to excitation-contraction (e-c) coupling has not been fully established. Here, using mouse models lacking either Tdn (Tdn-null), Jct (Jct-null) or both (Tdn/Jct-null), we identify Tdn as the main component of periodically located anchors connecting CASQ to the RyR-bearing jSR membrane. Both proteins proved to be important for the structural organization of jSR cisternae and retention of CASQ within them, but with different degrees of impact. Our results also suggest that the presence of CASQ is responsible for the wide lumen of the jSR cisternae. Using Ca2+ imaging and Ca2+ selective microelectrodes we found that changes in e-c coupling, SR Ca2+content and resting [Ca2+] in Jct, Tdn and Tdn/Jct-null muscles are directly correlated to the effect of each deletion on CASQ content and its organization within the jSR. These data suggest that in skeletal muscle the disruption of Tdn/CASQ link has a more profound effect on jSR architecture and myoplasmic Ca2+ regulation than Jct/CASQ association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We previously demonstrated that a herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)/adeno-associated virus (AAV) hybrid amplicon vector constructed by inserting the sequences of regulatory protein (rep) and inverted terminal repeats of AAV into an HSV amplicon vector resulted in the enhanced stability of transgene expression compared to the original HSV-1 amplicon vector. However, problems related to the expression of Rep compromised its therapeutic applications. We report here a new HSV/AAV hybrid amplicon vector system that not only solved problems associated with Rep expression but also markedly improved the stable transduction efficiency of this vector. This new HSV/AAV vector is designed in a way that little or no Rep would be expressed in packaging cells, but it can be expressed in transduced cells if Cre recombinase is provided. Furthermore, Rep expression will be automatically suppressed as a consequence of Rep-mediated integration. Our results showed that the new hybrid amplicon vector yielded titers comparable to those of standard amplicon vectors. When Cre-expressing 293 cells were transduced, a low level of Rep expression was detected, and stable transduction was achieved in ∼22% of transduced cells; of those cells, ∼70% transduction was achieved by Rep-mediated site-specific integration. In the majority of the stably transduced cells, Rep expression was no longer observed. Our results also proved that this vector system is capable of efficiently accommodating and site-specifically integrating large transgenes, such as the full-length dystrophin expression cassette. Thus, the new HSV/AAV vector demonstrated unique advantages in safe and effective delivery of long-lasting transgene expression into human cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better understand the role of the transient expression of ryanodine receptor (RyR) type 3 (RyR3) on Ca2+ homeostasis during the development of skeletal muscle, we have analyzed the effect of expression levels of RyR3 and RyR1 on the overall physiology of cultured myotubes and muscle fibers. Dyspedic myotubes were infected with RyR1 or RyR3 containing virions at 0.2, 0.4, 1.0, and 4.0 moieties of infection (MOI), and analysis of their pattern of expression, caffeine sensitivity, and resting free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]r) was performed. Although increased MOI resulted in increased expression of each receptor isoform, it did not significantly affect the immunopattern of RyRs or the expression levels of calsequestrin, triadin, or FKBP-12. Interestingly, myotubes expressing RyR3 always had significantly higher [Ca2+]r and lower caffeine EC50 than did cells expressing RyR1. Although some of the increased sensitivity of RyR3 to caffeine could be attributed to the higher [Ca2+]r in RyR3-expressing cells, studies of [³H]ryanodine binding demonstrated intrinsic differences in caffeine sensitivity between RyR1 and RyR3. Tibialis anterior (TA) muscle fibers at different stages of postnatal development exhibited a transient increase in [Ca2+]r coordinately with their level of RyR3 expression. Similarly, adult soleus fibers, which also express RyR3, had higher [Ca2+]r than did adult TA fibers, which exclusively express RyR1. These data show that in skeletal muscle, RyR3 increases [Ca2+]r more than RyR1 does at any expression level. These data suggest that the coexpression of RyR1 and RyR3 at different levels may constitute a novel mechanism by which to regulate [Ca2+]r in skeletal muscle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The β1a subunit is a cytoplasmic component of the dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR) complex that plays an essential role in skeletal muscle excitation-contraction (EC) coupling. Here we investigate the role of the C-terminal end of this auxiliary subunit in the functional and structural communication between the DHPR and the Ca2+ release channel (RyR1). Progressive truncation of the β1a C terminus showed that deletion of amino acid residues Gln489 to Trp503 resulted in a loss of depolarization-induced Ca2+ release, a severe reduction of L-type Ca2+currents, and a lack of tetrad formation as evaluated by freeze-fracture analysis. However, deletion of this domain did not affect expression/targeting or density (Qmax) of the DHPR-α1S subunit to the plasma membrane. Within this motif, triple alanine substitution of residues Leu496, Leu500, and Trp503, which are thought to mediate direct β1a -RyR1 interactions, weakened EC coupling but did not replicate the truncated phenotype. Therefore, these data demonstrate that an amino acid segment encompassing sequence 489QVQVLTSLRRNLSFW503 of β1a contains critical determinant(s) for the physical link of DHPR and RyR1, further confirming a direct correspondence between DHPR positioning and DHPR/RyR functional interactions. In addition, our data strongly suggest that the motif Leu496-Leu500-Trp503 within the β1a C-terminal tail plays a nonessential role in the bidirectional DHPR/RyR1 signaling that supports skeletal-type EC coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The L-type Ca2+ channel (dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR) in skeletal muscle acts as the voltage sensor for excitation-contraction coupling. To better resolve the spatial organization of the DHPR subunits (α1s or CaV1.1,α2,β1a,δ1, and γ), we created transgenic mice expressing a recombinant β1a subunit with YFP and a biotin acceptor domain attached to its N- and C- termini, respectively. DHPR complexes were purified from skeletal muscle, negatively stained, imaged by electron microscopy, and subjected to single-particle image analysis. The resulting 19.1-Å resolution, three-dimensional reconstruction shows a main body of 17 × 11 × 8 nm with five corners along its perimeter. Two protrusions emerge from either face of the main body: the larger one attributed to the α2-δ1 subunit that forms a flexible hook-shaped feature and a smaller protrusion on the opposite side that corresponds to the II-III loop of CaV1.1 as revealed by antibody labeling. Novel features discernible in the electron density accommodate the atomic coordinates of a voltage-gated sodium channel and of the β subunit in a single docking possibility that defines the α1-β interaction. The β subunit appears more closely associated to the membrane than expected, which may better account for both its role in localizing the α1s subunit to the membrane and its suggested role in excitation-contraction coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]