ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the mechanism of congenital paramyotonia caused by human skeletal muscle voltage-gated sodium channel hNav1.4 mutant I1363T.@*METHODS@#The conservation of the mutant site were detecled by using amino acid sequence alignment; the C-terminal mCherry fusion hNav1.4 was constructed, and the expression and distribution of wild type and hNav1.4 mutant I1363T were determined by confocal microscopy; the steady-state activation, fast inactivation and window current of wild type and hNav1.4 mutant I1363T were examined by whole-cell patch clamp.@*RESULTS@#Alignment of the amino acid sequences revealed that Ile1363 is highly conserved in human sodium channels. There was no significant difference in expression level and distribution between wild type and I1363T. Although no significant differences were observed between I1363T mutant and wild type in the activation upon channel gating, the of voltage-dependence of fast inactivation of I1363T mutant[(-59.01±0.26) mV] shifted 9 mV towards depolarization as compared with wild type[(-68.03±0.34) mV], and the slope factor of voltage-dependence curve increased to (5.24±0.23) mV, compared with (4.55±0.21) mV of the wild type. Moreover, I1363T showed the larger window current than that of the wild type.@*CONCLUSIONS@#I1363T causes the defect in fast inactivation of hNav1.4, which may increase the excitability of muscle cells and be responsible for myotonia. The increased window current of I1363T may result in an increase of inward Na+ current, could subsequently inactivate the channels and lead to loss of excitability and paralysis.