The intrinsic electrical properties and the synaptic input-output relationships of neurons are governed by the action of voltage-dependent ion channels. The localization of specific population of ion channels with distinct functional properties at discrete sites in neurons dramatically impacts excitability and synaptic transmission. Molecular cloning studies have revealed a large family of genes encoding voltage-dependent ion channel principal and auxiliary subunits, most of which are expressed in mammalian central neurons. Much recent effort has focused on determining which of these subunits co-assemble into native neuronal channel complexes, and the cellular and subcellular distributions of these complexes, as a crucial step in understanding the contribution of these channels to specific aspects of neuronal function. Here we review progress made on recent studies aimed at determining the cellular and subcellular distribution of specific ion channel subunits in mammalian brain neurons using in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemistry. We also discuss the repertoire of ion channel subunits in specific neuronal compartments and implications for neuronal physiology. Finally, we discuss the emerging mechanisms for determining the discrete subcellular distributions observed for many neuronal ion channels. I. OVERVIEW OF MAMMALIAN BRAIN VOLTAGE-DEPENDENT ION CHANNELS A. IntroductionMammalian central neurons express a large repertoire of voltage-dependent ion channels (VDICs) that form selective pores in the neuronal membrane and confer diverse properties of intrinsic neuronal excitability. This allows mammalian neurons to display a richness of firing behaviors over a wide range of stimuli and firing frequencies. The complex electrical behavior of mammalian neurons is due to a huge array of VDICs with distinct ion flux rates and selectivity, although the major VDICs underlying neuronal excitability and electrical signaling are those selective for Na + , K + and Ca 2+ ions. Neuronal VDICs also exhibit widely differing properties of how sensitive their gating, or the opening or closing of the channels pore, is to changes in membrane potential. Different VDICs also differ in the kinetics of these gating events. Importantly in the terms of mammalian brain, different VDICs differ widely in their cellular expression and subcellular localization, impacting their relative contribution to brain

The axon initial segment (AIS) plays a key role in maintaining the molecular and functional polarity of the neuron. The relationship between the AIS architecture and the microtubules (MTs) supporting axonal transport is unknown. Here we provide evidence that the MT plus-end-binding (EB) proteins EB1 and EB3 have a role in the AIS in addition to their MT plus-end tracking protein behavior in other neuronal compartments. In mature neurons, EB3 is concentrated and stabilized in the AIS. We identified a direct interaction between EB3/EB1 and the AIS scaffold protein ankyrin G (ankG). In addition, EB3 and EB1 participate in AIS maintenance, and AIS disassembly through ankG knockdown leads to cell-wide up-regulation of EB3 and EB1 comets. Thus, EB3 and EB1 coordinate a molecular and functional interplay between ankG and the AIS MTs that supports the central role of ankG in the maintenance of neuronal polarity. N eurons are highly polarized cells that rely on microtubules (MTs) for maintenance of their architecture and long-range polarized trafficking (1). MTs supporting axonal transport travel through the axon initial segment (AIS), a compartment that is essential for the generation of action potentials (2) and the maintenance of neuronal polarity (3). Generation of action potentials depends on the concentration of voltage-gated sodium (Nav) and potassium channels at the AIS, which are tethered at the plasma membrane via their interaction with ankyrin G (ankG (4-7). ankG, in turn, is linked to the actin cytoskeleton via βIV-spectrin and organizes AIS formation by recruiting membrane proteins and βIV-spectrin to the nascent AIS (3).The AIS maintains neuronal polarity by forming a diffusion barrier for membrane constituents at the cell surface (4,8,9) and also by dampening intracellular diffusion and vesicular transport through the AIS (10). Both phenomena depend on ankG, because depletion of ankG results in the disappearance of AIS and the acquisition of dendritic identity by the proximal axon (11,12). However, the molecular role of ankG in the intracellular AIS organization is still unknown. The dependence of the AIS intracellular filter on ankG (10) and the disorganization of MT bundles in the AIS of Purkinje cells from ankG-deficient mice (12) suggest an unknown link between ankG and MTs in the AIS.The end-binding (EB) proteins family, composed of three members (EB1-3), has been described as plus-end-tracking proteins (+TIPs) that coordinate a network of dynamic proteins on the growing MT plus-ends (13). In neurons, EB1 has been implicated in axonal transport (14, 15), whereas EB3 has been characterized as a molecular link between MTs and the actin cytoskeleton (16, 17). We hypothesized that EB proteins could have a role in the AIS via interaction with the ankG/βIV-spectrin scaffold. We first found that EB3 is accumulated and stabilized in the AIS of mature neurons. Both EB3 and EB1 bind to ankG and participate in the maintenance of the AIS scaffold. Reciprocally, altering neuronal polarity through ankG knockdown in...

SUMMARY

Kv1.2 ␣-subunits are components of low-threshold, rapidly activating voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels in mammalian neurons. Expression and localization of Kv channels is regulated by trafficking signals encoded in their primary structure. Kv1.2 is unique in lacking strong trafficking signals and in exhibiting dramatic cell-specific differences in trafficking, which is suggestive of conditional trafficking signals. Here we show that a cluster of cytoplasmic C-terminal phosphorylation sites regulates Kv1.2 trafficking. Using tandem MS to analyze Kv1.2 purified from rat, human, and mouse brain, we identified in each sample in vivo phosphoserine (pS) phosphorylation sites at pS434, pS440, and pS441, as well as doubly phosphorylated pS440/pS441. We also found these sites, as well as pS449, on recombinant Kv1.2 expressed in heterologous cells. We found that phosphorylation at pS440/pS441 is present only on the post-endoplasmic reticulum (ER)/cell surface pool of Kv1.2 and is not detectable on newly synthesized and ER-localized Kv1.2, on which we did observe pS449 phosphorylation. Elimination of PS440/PS441 phosphorylation by mutation reduces cell-surface expression efficiency and functional expression of homomeric Kv1.2 channels. Interestingly, mutation of S449 reduces phosphorylation at pS440/pS441 and also decreases Kv1.2 cell-surface expression efficiency and functional expression. These mutations also suppress trafficking of Kv1.2/ Kv1.4 heteromeric channels, suggesting that incorporation of Kv1.2 into heteromeric complexes confers conditional phosphorylation-dependent trafficking to diverse Kv channel complexes. These data support Kv1.2 phosphorylation at these clustered C-terminal sites as playing an important role in regulating trafficking of Kv1.2-containing Kv channels.ion channel ͉ mass spectrometry ͉ proteomics ͉ brain ͉ phosphospecific V oltage-gated potassium, or Kv, channels that form as tetramers of Kv1 ␣-subunits play important and diverse roles in regulating excitability of axons, nerve terminals, and dendrites of mammalian neurons (1). The major Kv1 ␣-subunits in mammalian brain, Kv1.1, Kv1.2, and Kv1.4, are found predominantly in heterotetrameric channel complexes (2-4). Homotetrameric Kv1.2 channels form low-threshold, sustained-or delayed-rectifier Kv channels (5) and, when coassembled with other Kv1 ␣-subunits, can generate a diverse array of channel subtypes (6). In mammalian brain, Kv1.2 is found prominently along unmyelinated axons, in nerve terminals and/or in preterminal axon segments, at axon initial segments, and at juxtaparanodes of myelinated axons, but it is also present in the dendrites of some neurons (7). The physiological importance of Kv1.2 is underscored by the recent finding that Kv1.2 knockout mice have enhanced seizure susceptibility and die in the third postnatal week (8).Biosynthetic trafficking of Kv1 channels from their site of translation in the rough endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the cell surface is governed by a set of intrinsic targeting motifs encoded in primary s...

SummaryAltered ion channel expression and/or function may contribute to the development of certain human epilepsies. In rats, systemic administration of pilocarpine induces a model of human temporal lobe epilepsy, wherein a brief period of status epilepticus (SE) triggers development of spontaneous recurrent seizures that appear after a latency of two-three weeks. Here we investigate changes in expression of A-type voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels, which control neuronal excitability and regulate action potential propagation and neurotransmitter release, in the pilocarpine model of epilepsy. Using immunohistochemistry, we examined the expression of component subunits of somatodendritic (Kv4.2, Kv4.3, KChIPl and KChIP2) and axonal (Kv1.4) A-type Kv channels in hippocampi of pilocarpine-treated rats that entered SE. We found that Kv4.2, Kv4.3 and KChIP2 staining in the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus changes from being uniformly distributed across the molecular layer to concentrated in just the outer two-thirds. We also observed a loss of KChIP1 immunoreactive interneurons, and a reduction of Kv4.2 and KChIP2 staining in stratum radiatum of CA1. These changes begin to appear 1 week after pilocarpine treatment and persist or are enhanced at 4 and 12 weeks. As such, these changes in Kv channel distribution parallel the acquisition of recurrent spontaneous seizures as observed in this model. We also found temporal changes in Kv1.4 immunoreactivity matching those in Timm's stain, being expanded in stratum lucidum of CA3 and in the inner third of the dentate molecular layer. Among pilocarpine-treated rats, changes were only observed in those that entered SE. These changes in A-type Kv channel expression may contribute to hyperexcitability of dendrites in the associated hippocampal circuits as observed in previous studies of the effects of pilocarpine-induced SE.