We have identified a 35 amino acid peptide toxin of the inhibitor cysteine knot family that blocks cationic stretch-activated ion channels. The toxin, denoted GsMTx-4, was isolated from the venom of the spider Grammostola spatulata and has <50% homology to other neuroactive peptides. It was isolated by fractionating whole venom using reverse phase HPLC, and then assaying fractions on stretch-activated channels (SACs) in outside-out patches from adult rat astrocytes. Although the channel gating kinetics were different between cell-attached and outside-out patches, the properties associated with the channel pore, such as selectivity for alkali cations, conductance (∼45 pS at −100 mV) and a mild rectification were unaffected by outside-out formation. GsMTx-4 produced a complete block of SACs in outside-out patches and appeared specific since it had no effect on whole-cell voltage-sensitive currents. The equilibrium dissociation constant of ∼630 nM was calculated from the ratio of association and dissociation rate constants. In hypotonically swollen astrocytes, GsMTx-4 produces ∼40% reduction in swelling-activated whole-cell current. Similarly, in isolated ventricular cells from a rabbit dilated cardiomyopathy model, GsMTx-4 produced a near complete block of the volume-sensitive cation-selective current, but did not affect the anion current. In the myopathic heart cells, where the swell-induced current is tonically active, GsMTx-4 also reduced the cell size. This is the first report of a peptide toxin that specifically blocks stretch-activated currents. The toxin affect on swelling-activated whole-cell currents implicates SACs in volume regulation.

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Gadolinium (Gd3+) blocks cation-selective stretch-activated ion channels (SACs) and thereby inhibits a variety of physiological and pathophysiological processes. Gd3+ sensitivity has become a simple and widely used method for detecting the involvement of SACs, and, conversely, Gd3+insensitivity has been used to infer that processes are not dependent on SACs. The limitations of this approach are not adequately appreciated, however. Avid binding of Gd3+ to anions commonly present in physiological salt solutions and culture media, including phosphate- and bicarbonate-buffered solutions and EGTA in intracellular solutions, often is not taken into account. Failure to detect an effect of Gd3+ in such solutions may reflect the vanishingly low concentrations of free Gd3+ rather than the lack of a role for SACs. Moreover, certain SACs are insensitive to Gd3+, and Gd3+ also blocks other ion channels. Gd3+ remains a useful tool for studying SACs, but appropriate care must be taken in experimental design and interpretation to avoid both false negative and false positive conclusions.

Video microscopy was used to study the regulation of cell volume in isolated rabbit ventricular myocytes. Myocytes rapidly (less than or equal to 2 min) swelled and shrank in hyposmotic and hyperosmotic solutions, respectively, and this initial volume response was maintained without a regulatory volume decrease or increase for 20 min. Relative cell volumes (normalized to isosmotic solution, 1T) were as follows: 1.41 +/- 0.01 in 0.6T, 1.20 +/- 0.04 in 0.8T, 0.71 +/- 0.04 in 1.8T, and 0.57 +/- 0.03 in 2.6T. These volume changes were significantly less than expected if all of the measured volume was osmotically active water. Changes in width and thickness were significantly greater than changes in cell length. The idea that cotransport contributes to cell volume regulation was tested by inhibiting Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl- cotransport with bumetanide (BUM) and Na(+)-Cl- cotransport with chlorothiazide (CTZ). Under isotonic conditions, a 10-min exposure to BUM (1 microM), CTZ (100 microM), or BUM (10 microM) plus CTZ (100 microM) decreased relative cell volume to 0.87 +/- 0.01, 0.86 +/- 0.02, and 0.82 +/- 0.04, respectively. BUM plus CTZ also modified the response to osmotic stress. Swelling in 2.6T medium was 76% greater and shrinkage in 0.6T medium was 29% less than in the absence of diuretics. In contrast to the rapid effects of diuretics, inhibition of the Na(+)-K+ pump with 10 microM ouabain for 20 min did not affect cell volume in 1T solution. Nevertheless, ouabain decreased swelling in 0.6T medium by 52% and increased shrinkage in 1.8T medium by 34%. These data suggest that under isotonic conditions Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl- and Na(+)-Cl- cotransport are critical in establishing cell volume, but osmoregulation can compensate for Na(+)-K+ pump inhibition for at least 20 min. Under anisotonic conditions, the Na(+)-K+ pump and Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl- and/or Na(+)-Cl- cotransport are important in myocyte volume regulation.

Osmotic swelling of cardiac myocytes and other types of cells activates an outwardly rectifying, tamoxifen-sensitive Cl− current, ICl,swell, but it is unclear whether Cl− currents also are activated by direct mechanical stretch. We tested whether specific stretch of β1-integrin activates a Cl− current in rabbit left ventricular myocytes. Paramagnetic beads (4.5-μm diameter) coated with mAb to β1-integrin were applied to the surface of myocytes and pulled upward with an electromagnet while recording whole-cell current. In solutions designed to isolate anion currents, β1-integrin stretch elicited an outwardly rectifying Cl− current with biophysical and pharmacological properties similar to those of ICl,swell. Stretch-activated Cl− current activated slowly (t1/2 = 3.5 ± 0.1 min), partially inactivated at positive voltages, reversed near ECl, and was blocked by 10 μM tamoxifen. When stretch was terminated, 64 ± 8% of the stretch-induced current reversed within 10 min. Mechanotransduction involved protein tyrosine kinase. Genistein (100 μM), a protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor previously shown to suppress ICl,swell in myocytes, inhibited stretch-activated Cl− current by 62 ± 6% during continued stretch. Because focal adhesion kinase and Src are known to be activated by cell swelling, mechanical stretch, and clustering of integrins, we tested whether these tyrosine kinases mediated the response to β1-integrin stretch. PP2 (10 μM), a selective blocker of focal adhesion kinase and Src, fully inhibited the stretch-activated Cl− current as well as part of the background Cl− current, whereas its inactive analogue PP3 (10 μM) had no significant effect. In addition to activating Cl− current, stretch of β1-integrin also appeared to activate a nonselective cation current and to suppress IK1. Integrins are the primary mechanical link between the extracellular matrix and cytoskeleton. The present results suggest that integrin stretch may contribute to mechano-electric feedback in heart, modulate electrical activity, and influence the propensity for arrhythmogenesis.

Characteristics and functions of the cardiac swelling-activated Cl current (I(Cl,swell)) are considered in physiologic and pathophysiologic settings. I(Cl,swell) is broadly distributed throughout the heart and is stimulated not only by osmotic and hydrostatic increases in cell volume, but also by agents that alter membrane tension and direct mechanical stretch. The current is outwardly rectifying, reverses between the plateau and resting potentials (E(m)), and is time-independent over the physiologic voltage range. Consequently, I(Cl,swell) shortens action potential duration, depolarizes E(m), and acts to decrease cell volume. Because it is activated by stimuli that also activate cation stretch-activated channels, I(Cl,swell) should be considered as a potential effector of mechanoelectrical feedback. I(Cl,swell) is activated in ischemic and non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathies and perhaps during ischemia and reperfusion. I(Cl,swell) plays a role in arrhythmogenesis, myocardial injury, preconditioning, and apoptosis of myocytes. As a result, I(Cl,swell) potentially is a novel therapeutic target.

Direct stretch of β1 integrin activates an outwardly rectifying, tamoxifen-sensitive Cl− current (Cl− SAC) via focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and/or Src. The characteristics of Cl− SAC resemble those of the volume-sensitive Cl− current, ICl,swell. Because myocyte stretch releases angiotensin II (AngII), which binds AT1 receptors (AT1R) and stimulates FAK and Src in an autocrine-paracrine loop, we tested whether AT1R and their downstream signaling cascade participate in mechanotransduction. Paramagnetic beads coated with mAb for β1-integrin were applied to myocytes and pulled upward with an electromagnet while recording whole-cell anion current. Losartan (5 μM), an AT1R competitive antagonist, blocked Cl− SAC but did not significantly alter the background Cl− current in the absence of integrin stretch. AT1R signaling is mediated largely by H2O2 produced from superoxide generated by sarcolemmal NADPH oxidase. Diphenyleneiodonium (DPI, 60 μM), a potent NADPH oxidase inhibitor, rapidly and completely blocked both Cl− SAC elicited by stretch and the background Cl− current. A structurally unrelated NADPH oxidase inhibitor, 4-(2-aminoethyl) benzenesulfonyl fluoride (AEBSF, 0.5 and 2 mM), also rapidly and completely blocked Cl− SAC as well as a large fraction of the background Cl− current. With continuing integrin stretch, Cl− SAC recovered upon washout of AEBSF (2 mM). In the absence of stretch, exogenous AngII (5 nM) activated an outwardly rectifying Cl− current that was rapidly and completely blocked by DPI (60 μM). Moreover, exogenous H2O2 (10, 100, and 500 μM), the eventual product of NADPH oxidase activity, also activated Cl− SAC in the absence of stretch, whereas catalase (1,000 U/ml), an H2O2 scavenger, attenuated the response to stretch. Application of H2O2 during NADPH oxidase inhibition by either DPI (60 μM) or AEBSF (0.5 mM) did not fully reactivate Cl− SAC, however. These results suggest that stretch of β1-integrin in cardiac myocytes elicits Cl− SAC by activating AT1R and NADPH oxidase and, thereby, producing reactive oxygen species. In addition, NADPH oxidase may be intimately coupled to the channel responsible for Cl− SAC, providing a second regulatory pathway.

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