Interaction of diazoxide and cromakalim with ATP-regulated K+ channels in rodent and clonal insulin-secreting cells.

The hyperglycaemia-inducing sulphonamide diazoxide has been previously shown to mediate its effects upon insulin secretion by opening K+ channels and hyperpolarizing the beta-cell membrane. The target site has been characterized as the ATP-regulated K+ (K+ATP) channel protein. In the present study, a detailed investigation of interactions of diazoxide and another K+ channel opener, cromakalim, with K+ATP channels has been performed in individual insulin-secreting cells using patch-clamp techniques. In agreement with previous studies, diazoxide and cromakalim were found to be effective only when ATP was present upon the inside face of the plasma membrane. The ability of both diazoxide and cromakalim to open channels was, however, found to diminish with time following isolation of inside-out patches. Within seconds of forming the recording configuration, the actions of both compounds were potent, and were found to decline steadily as the number of operational channels decreased ('run-down'). In open cells, where the plasma membrane remains partially intact, the rate of run-down was significantly reduced, and effects of channel openers were recorded up to 80 min following cell permeabilization. We also demonstrated that in the absence of ATP, but in the presence of ADP, both diazoxide and cromakalim were able to open K+ATP channels. Interestingly, once the effects of diazoxide and cromakalim on K+ATP channels in the presence of ATP were lost, both compounds opened channels in the presence of ADP. One implication of these data is that the actions of diazoxide and cromakalim involve regulatory proteins associated with the ion channel; this molecule is able to bind ATP, ADP and possibly other cytosolic nucleotides.

Properties of diazoxide and cromakalim-induced activation of potassium channels in cultured rat and RINm5F insulin-secreting cells; effects of GTP.

Experiments have been carried out to examine the effects of GTP on the opening of K+ channels in insulin-secreting cells by diazoxide (0.2 mM) and cromakalim (0.5 mM). Using rat pancreatic beta-cells and RINm5F insulinoma cells, patch-clamp recordings of unitary ATP-sensitive potassium (K+ATP) channel currents were made in either the open cell or outside-out patch recording configurations. Adding diazoxide or cromakalim to either the inside or the outside face of the membrane was found regularly to cause the activation of K+ATP channels in the presence of 0.5 mM ATP. We now demonstrate that in the absence of ATP but in the presence of GTP (0.5-1 mM), both diazoxide and cromakalim activate channels. Effects are rapid in onset, sustained and readily reversible. Both the diazoxide- and cromakalim-induced activation of K+ATP channels were mediated by increases in channel open-state probability, and were not associated with any significant change in either channel amplitude or by an increase in the number of channels in the patch. The actions of both diazoxide and cromakalim were not affected by overnight pretreatment of cells with pertussis toxin, suggesting that PTX-sensitive GTP-binding proteins are not involved in mediating the actions of either compound. These data indicate that diazoxide and cromakalim open K+ATP channels in a manner not solely dependent upon intracellular ATP, but by mechanisms involving other cytosolic nucleotides, including GTP.