Cardiac repolarization is determined in part by the slow delayed rectifier current (IKs), through the tetrameric voltage-gated ion channel, KCNQ1, and its β-subunit, KCNE1. The stoichiometry between α and β-subunits has been controversial with studies reporting either a strict 2 KCNE1:4 KCNQ1 or a variable ratio up to 4:4. We used IKs fusion proteins linking KCNE1 to one (EQ), two (EQQ) or four (EQQQQ) KCNQ1 subunits, to reproduce compulsory 4:4, 2:4 or 1:4 stoichiometries. Whole cell and single-channel recordings showed EQQ and EQQQQ to have increasingly hyperpolarized activation, reduced conductance, and shorter first latency of opening compared to EQ - all abolished by the addition of KCNE1. As well, using a UV-crosslinking unnatural amino acid in KCNE1, we found EQQQQ and EQQ crosslinking rates to be progressively slowed compared to KCNQ1, which demonstrates that no intrinsic mechanism limits the association of up to four β-subunits within the IKs complex.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.11815.001

The number and activity of Cav1.2 channels in the cardiomyocyte sarcolemma tunes the magnitude of Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release and myocardial contraction. β-Adrenergic receptor (βAR) activation stimulates sarcolemmal insertion of CaV1.2. This supplements the preexisting sarcolemmal CaV1.2 population, forming large “superclusters” wherein neighboring channels undergo enhanced cooperative-gating behavior, amplifying Ca2+ influx and myocardial contractility. Here, we determine this stimulated insertion is fueled by an internal reserve of early and recycling endosome-localized, presynthesized CaV1.2 channels. βAR-activation decreased CaV1.2/endosome colocalization in ventricular myocytes, as it triggered “emptying” of endosomal CaV1.2 cargo into the t-tubule sarcolemma. We examined the rapid dynamics of this stimulated insertion process with live-myocyte imaging of channel trafficking, and discovered that CaV1.2 are often inserted into the sarcolemma as preformed, multichannel clusters. Similarly, entire clusters were removed from the sarcolemma during endocytosis, while in other cases, a more incremental process suggested removal of individual channels. The amplitude of the stimulated insertion response was doubled by coexpression of constitutively active Rab4a, halved by coexpression of dominant-negative Rab11a, and abolished by coexpression of dominant-negative mutant Rab4a. In ventricular myocytes, βAR-stimulated recycling of CaV1.2 was diminished by both nocodazole and latrunculin-A, suggesting an essential role of the cytoskeleton in this process. Functionally, cytoskeletal disruptors prevented βAR-activated Ca2+ current augmentation. Moreover, βAR-regulation of CaV1.2 was abolished when recycling was halted by coapplication of nocodazole and latrunculin-A. These findings reveal that βAR-stimulation triggers an on-demand boost in sarcolemmal CaV1.2 abundance via targeted Rab4a- and Rab11a-dependent insertion of channels that is essential for βAR-regulation of cardiac CaV1.2.

IKs channels are important for repolarization of cardiac action potentials during stress, but the mechanism has not been described microscopically. Thompson et al. show that cAMP facilitates voltage sensor activation in single channels, causing fewer silent sweeps, reduced first latency to opening, and occupancy of higher-subconductance states in open channels.

The I Ks current has an established role in cardiac action potential repolarization, and provides a repolarization reserve at times of stress. The underlying channels are formed from tetramers of KCNQ1 along with one to four KCNE1 accessory subunits, but how these components together gate the I Ks complex to open the pore is controversial. Currently, either a concerted movement involving all four subunits of the tetramer or allosteric regulation of open probability through voltage-dependent subunit activation is thought to precede opening. Here, by using the E160R mutation in KCNQ1 or the F57W mutation in KCNE1 to prevent or impede, respectively, voltage sensors from moving into activated conformations, we demonstrate that a concerted transition of all four subunits after voltage sensor activation is not required for the opening of I Ks channels. Tracking voltage sensor movement, via [2-(trimethylammonium)ethyl]methanethiosulfonate bromide (MTSET) modification and fluorescence recordings, shows that E160R-containing voltage sensors do not translocate upon depolarization. E160R, when expressed in all four KCNQ1 subunits, is nonconducting, but if one, two, or three voltage sensors contain the E160R mutation, whole-cell and single-channel currents are still observed in both the presence and absence of KCNE1, and average conductance is reduced proportional to the number of E160R voltage sensors. The data suggest that KCNQ1 + KCNE1 channels gate like KCNQ1 alone. A model of independent voltage sensors directly coupled to open states can simulate experimental changes in I Ks current kinetics, including the nonlinear depolarization of the conductance-voltage (G-V) relationship, and tail current acceleration as the number of nonactivatable E160R subunits is increased.

The slow delayed rectifier potassium current (I) is a key repolarizing current during the cardiac action potential. It consists of four KCNQ1 α-subunits and up to four KCNE1 β-subunits, which are thought to reside within external clefts of the channel. The interaction of KCNE1 with KCNQ1 dramatically delays opening of the channel but the mechanisms by which this occur are not yet fully understood. Here, we have used unnatural amino acid photo-cross-linking to investigate the dynamic interactions that occur between KCNQ1 and KCNE1 during activation gating. The unnatural amino acid p-Benzoylphenylalanine was successfully incorporated into two residues within the transmembrane domain of KCNE1: F56 and F57. UV-induced cross-linking suggested that F56Bpa interacts with KCNQ1 in the open state, whereas F57Bpa interacts predominantly in resting channel conformations. When UV was applied at progressively more depolarized preopen holding potentials, cross-linking of F57Bpa with KCNQ1 was slowed, which indicates that KCNE1 is displaced within the channel's cleft early during activation, or that conformational changes in KCNQ1 alter its interaction with KCNE1. In E1R/R4E KCNQ1, a mutant with constitutively activated voltage sensors, F56Bpa and F57Bpa KCNE1 were cross-linked in open and closed states, respectively, which suggests that their actions are mediated mainly by modulation of KCNQ1 pore function.

During cardiac excitation contraction coupling, the arrival of an action potential at the ventricular myocardium triggers voltage-dependent L-type Ca2+ (CaV1.2) channels in individual myocytes to open briefly. The level of this Ca2+ influx tunes the amplitude of Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release from ryanodine receptors (RyR2) on the junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum and thus the magnitude of the elevation in intracellular Ca2+ concentration and ultimately the downstream contraction. The number and activity of functional CaV1.2 channels at the t-tubule dyads dictates the amplitude of the Ca2+ influx. Trafficking of these channels and their auxiliary subunits to the cell surface is thus tightly controlled and regulated to ensure adequate sarcolemmal expression to sustain this critical process. To that end, recent discoveries have revealed the existence of internal reservoirs of preformed CaV1.2 channels that can be rapidly mobilized to enhance sarcolemmal expression in times of acute stress when hemodynamic and metabolic demand increases. In this review, we provide an overview of the current thinking on CaV1.2 channel trafficking dynamics in the heart. We highlight the numerous points of control including the biosynthetic pathway, the endosomal recycling pathway, ubiquitination, and lysosomal and proteasomal degradation pathways, and discuss the effects of β-adrenergic and angiotensin receptor signaling cascades on this process.

The delayed potassium rectifier current, I Ks, is assembled from tetramers of KCNQ1 and varying numbers of KCNE1 accessory subunits in addition to calmodulin. This channel complex is important in the response of the cardiac action potential to sympathetic stimulation, during which I Ks is enhanced. This is likely due to channels opening more quickly, more often, and to greater sublevel amplitudes during adrenergic stimulation. KCNQ1 alone is unresponsive to cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), and thus KCNE1 is required for a functional effect of protein kinase A phosphorylation. Here, we investigate the effect that KCNE1 has on the response to 8-4-chlorophenylthio (CPT)-cAMP, a membrane-permeable cAMP analog, by varying the number of KCNE1 subunits present using fusion constructs of I Ks with either one (EQQQQ) or two (EQQ) KCNE1 subunits in the channel complex with KCNQ1. These experiments use both whole-cell and single-channel recording techniques. EQQ (2:4, E1:Q1) shows a significant shift in V 1/2 of activation from 10.4 mV 5 2.2 in control to À2.7 mV 5 1.2 (p-value: 0.0024). EQQQQ (1:4, E1:Q1) shows a smaller change in response to 8-CPT-cAMP, 6.3 mV 5 2.3 to À3.2 mV 5 3.0 (p-value: 0.0435). As the number of KCNE1 subunits is reduced, the shift in the V 1/2 of activation becomes smaller. At the single-channel level, a similar graded change in subconductance occupancy and channel activity is seen in response to 8-CPT-cAMP: the less E1, the smaller the response. However, both constructs show a significant reduction of a similar magnitude in the first latency to opening (EQQ control: 0.90 s 5 0.07 to 0.71 s 5 0.06, p-value: 0.0032 and EQQQQ control: 0.94 s 5 0.09 to 0.56 s 5 0.07, p-value < 0.0001). This suggests that there are both E1-dependent and E1-independent effects of 8-CPT-cAMP on the channel.

Ca V 1.2 channels are critical players in cardiac excitation–contraction coupling, yet we do not understand how they are affected by an important therapeutic target of heart failure drugs and regulator of blood pressure, angiotensin II. Signaling through G q -coupled AT1 receptors, angiotensin II triggers a decrease in PIP 2 , a phosphoinositide component of the plasma membrane (PM) and known regulator of many ion channels. PIP 2 depletion suppresses Ca V 1.2 currents in heterologous expression systems but the mechanism of this regulation and whether a similar phenomenon occurs in cardiomyocytes is unknown. Previous studies have shown that Ca V 1.2 currents are also suppressed by angiotensin II. We hypothesized that these two observations are linked and that PIP 2 stabilizes Ca V 1.2 expression at the PM and angiotensin II depresses cardiac excitability by stimulating PIP 2 depletion and destabilization of Ca V 1.2 expression. We tested this hypothesis and report that Ca V 1.2 channels in tsA201 cells are destabilized after AT1 receptor-triggered PIP 2 depletion, leading to their dynamin-dependent endocytosis. Likewise, in cardiomyocytes, angiotensin II decreased t-tubular Ca V 1.2 expression and cluster size by inducing their dynamic removal from the sarcolemma. These effects were abrogated by PIP 2 supplementation. Functional data revealed acute angiotensin II reduced Ca V 1.2 currents and Ca 2+ transient amplitudes thus diminishing excitation–contraction coupling. Finally, mass spectrometry results indicated whole-heart levels of PIP 2 are decreased by acute angiotensin II treatment. Based on these observations, we propose a model wherein PIP 2 stabilizes Ca V 1.2 membrane lifetimes, and angiotensin II-induced PIP 2 depletion destabilizes sarcolemmal Ca V 1.2, triggering their removal, and the acute reduction of Ca V 1.2 currents and contractility.