Voltage-gated sodium channels (Na v ) are responsible for initiation and propagation of nerve, skeletal muscle, and cardiac action potentials. Na v are composed of a pore-forming ␣ subunit and often one to several modulating ␤ subunits. Previous work showed that terminal sialic acid residues attached to ␣ subunits affect channel gating. Here we show that the fully sialylated ␤ 1 subunit induces a uniform, hyperpolarizing shift in steady state and kinetic gating of the cardiac and two neuronal ␣ subunit isoforms. Under conditions of reduced sialylation, the ␤ 1 -induced gating effect was eliminated. Consistent with this, mutation of ␤ 1 N-glycosylation sites abolished all effects of ␤ 1 on channel gating. Data also suggest an interaction between the cis effect of ␣ sialic acids and the trans effect of ␤ 1 sialic acids on channel gating. Thus, ␤ 1 sialic acids had no effect on the gating of the heavily glycosylated skeletal muscle ␣ subunit. However, when glycosylation of the skeletal muscle ␣ subunit was reduced through chimeragenesis such that ␣ sialic acids did not impact gating, ␤ 1 sialic acids caused a significant hyperpolarizing shift in channel gating. Together, the data indicate that ␤ 1 N-linked sialic acids can modulate Na v gating through an apparent saturating electrostatic mechanism. A model is proposed in which a spectrum of differentially sialylated Na v can directly modulate channel gating, thereby impacting cardiac, skeletal muscle, and neuronal excitability.

Millions afflicted with Chagas disease and other disorders of aberrant glycosylation suffer symptoms consistent with altered electrical signaling such as arrhythmias, decreased neuronal conduction velocity, and hyporeflexia. Cardiac, neuronal, and muscle electrical signaling is controlled and modulated by changes in voltage-gated ion channel activity that occur through physiological and pathological processes such as development, epilepsy, and cardiomyopathy. Glycans attached to ion channels alter channel activity through isoform-specific mechanisms. Here we show that regulated and aberrant glycosylation modulate cardiac ion channel activity and electrical signaling through a cell-specific mechanism. Data show that nearly half of 239 glycosylation-associated genes (glycogenes) were significantly differentially expressed among neonatal and adult atrial and ventricular myocytes. The N-glycan structures produced among cardiomyocyte types were markedly variable. Thus, the cardiac glycome, defined as the complete set of glycan structures produced in the heart, is remodeled. One glycogene, ST8sia2, a polysialyltransferase, is expressed only in the neonatal atrium. Cardiomyocyte electrical signaling was compared in control and ST8sia2 (؊/؊) neonatal atrial and ventricular myocytes. Action potential waveforms and gating of less sialylated voltage-gated Na ؉ channels were altered consistently in ST8sia2 (؊/؊) atrial myocytes. ST8sia2 expression had no effect on ventricular myocyte excitability. Thus, the regulated (between atrium and ventricle) and aberrant (knockout in the neonatal atrium) expression of a single glycogene was sufficient to modulate cardiomyocyte excitability. A mechanism is described by which cardiac function is controlled and modulated through physiological and pathological processes that involve regulated and aberrant glycosylation. action potentials ͉ cardiomyocyte ͉ glycomics ͉ ion channels ͉ sialic acids

Voltage-gated sodium channel function from neonatal and adult rat cardiomyocytes was measured and compared. Channels from neonatal ventricles required an ∼10 mV greater depolarization for voltage-dependent gating events than did channels from neonatal atria and adult atria and ventricles. We questioned whether such gating shifts were due to developmental and/or chamber-dependent changes in channel-associated functional sialic acids. Thus, all gating characteristics for channels from neonatal atria and adult atria and ventricles shifted significantly to more depolarized potentials after removal of surface sialic acids. Desialylation of channels from neonatal ventricles did not affect channel gating. After removal of the complete surface N-glycosylation structures, gating of channels from neonatal atria and adult atria and ventricles shifted to depolarized potentials nearly identical to those measured for channels from neonatal ventricles. Gating of channels from neonatal ventricles were unaffected by such deglycosylation. Immunoblot gel shift analyses indicated that voltage-gated sodium channel α subunits from neonatal atria and adult atria and ventricles are more heavily sialylated than α subunits from neonatal ventricles. The data are consistent with approximately 15 more sialic acid residues attached to each α subunit from neonatal atria and adult atria and ventricles. The data indicate that differential sialylation of myocyte voltage-gated sodium channel α subunits is responsible for much of the developmental and chamber-specific remodeling of channel gating observed here. Further, cardiac excitability is likely impacted by these sialic acid–dependent gating effects, such as modulation of the rate of recovery from inactivation. A novel mechanism is described by which cardiac voltage-gated sodium channel gating and subsequently cardiac rhythms are modulated by changes in channel-associated sialic acids.

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Cell surfaces are replete with complex, biologically important glycan structures responsible for multiple cellular functions including cell adhesion and cellular communication. Proper protein glycosylation is essential for normal development and physiology with the effects of improper glycosylation being severe and even lethal. Gene products involved in glycan formation (glycosylation-associated genes) comprise 1–2% of the genome, resulting in a glycome of thousands of structures; possibly more extensive than the proteome. Using GeneChip microarray analyses, we provide evidence that glycosylation-associated gene expression is highly regulated throughout the developing myocardium. Nearly one-third of the glycosylation-associated genes were significantly differentially expressed in neonatal atria versus neonatal ventricles while 46.8% of these same genes were differentially expressed in neonate versus adult ventricles. Quantitative-PCR of individual genes confirmed the microarray analyses. Such gross glycosylation-associated gene expression remodeling likely modifies the complexity and size of glycosylation structures attached to cell surface proteins. To confirm this, glycan structures were determined and compared among myocyte types using mass spectrometry. The data indicated that the observed regulation in gene expression translated into a change in glycan structure. Further, we report that remodeled glycans are likely responsible for alterations in voltage-gated sodium channel activity and action potential waveforms, suggesting a physiological role for regulation of glycosylation-associated genes in the heart. Specifically, differences in sodium channel gating in neonatal atria versus neonatal ventricles were abolished by knocking out a single polysialyltransferase expressed only in neonatal atria. Atrial action potential duration and the rate of depolarization were altered in the absence of this polysialyltransferase, while ventricle action potential waveforms were unaffected. Together, these data indicate that the glycome is tightly controlled in the heart, and proper glycosylation is apparently essential for normal myocyte functions.

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