ABSTRACT
-ATP-sensitive potassium (K(ATP)) channels were discovered in ventricular cells, but their roles in the heart remain mysterious. K(ATP) channels have also been found in numerous other tissues, including vascular smooth muscle. Two pore-forming subunits, Kir6.1 and Kir6.2, contribute to the diversity of K(ATP) channels. To determine which subunits are operative in the cardiovascular system and their functional roles, we characterized the effects of pharmacological K(+) channel openers (KCOs, ie, pinacidil, P-1075, and diazoxide) in Kir6.2-deficient mice. Sarcolemmal K(ATP) channels could be recorded electrophysiologically in ventricular cells from Kir6.2(+/+) (wild-type [WT]) but not from Kir6.2(-/-) (knockout [KO]) mice. In WT ventricular cells, pinacidil induced an outward current and action potential shortening, effects that were blocked by glibenclamide, a K(ATP) channel blocker. KO ventricular cells exhibited no response to KCOs, but gene transfer of Kir6.2 into neonatal ventricular cells rescued the electrophysiological response to P-1075. In terms of contractile function, pinacidil decreased force generation in WT but not KO hearts. Pinacidil and diazoxide produced concentration-dependent relaxation in both WT and KO aortas precontracted with norepinephrine. In addition, pinacidil induced a glibenclamide-sensitive current of similar magnitude in WT and KO aortic smooth muscle cells and comparable levels of hypotension in anesthetized WT and KO mice. In both WT and KO aortas, only Kir6.1 mRNA was expressed. These findings indicate that the Kir6.2 subunit mediates the depression of cardiac excitability and contractility induced by KCOs; in contrast, Kir6.2 plays no discernible role in the arterial tree.
Subject(s)
Adenosine Triphosphate/physiology , Potassium Channels, Inwardly Rectifying , Potassium Channels/physiology , Adenosine Triphosphate/pharmacology , Adenoviridae/genetics , Animals , Aorta/drug effects , Aorta/physiology , Blood Pressure/drug effects , Blotting, Northern , Diazoxide/pharmacology , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Electrophysiology , Genetic Vectors/genetics , Genotype , Glyburide/pharmacology , Heart/drug effects , Heart/physiology , Heart Rate/drug effects , Heart Ventricles/cytology , Heart Ventricles/drug effects , In Vitro Techniques , Membrane Potentials/drug effects , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Knockout , Muscle, Smooth, Vascular/cytology , Muscle, Smooth, Vascular/drug effects , Muscle, Smooth, Vascular/physiology , Norepinephrine/pharmacology , Pinacidil/pharmacology , Potassium Channels/drug effects , Potassium Channels/genetics , RNA, Messenger/genetics , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , Transfection , Vasoconstriction/drug effects , Vasodilator Agents/pharmacology , Ventricular FunctionABSTRACT
In order to clarify the mechanisms by which the class Ib antiarrhythmic drug aprindine shows efficacy against atrial fibrillation (AF), we examined the effects of the drug on the repolarizing K+ currents in guinea-pig atrial cells by use of patch-clamp techniques. We also evaluated the effects of aprindine on experimental AF in isolated guinea-pig hearts. Aprindine (3 microM) inhibited the delayed rectifier K+ current (IK) with little influence on the inward rectifier K+ current (IK1) or the Ca2+ current. Electrophysiological analyses including the envelope of tails test revealed that aprindine preferentially inhibits IKr (rapidly activating component) but not IKs (slowly activating component). The muscarinic acetylcholine receptor-operated K+ current (IK.ACh) was activated by the extracellular application of carbachol (1 microM) or by the intracellular loading of GTPgammaS. Aprindine inhibited the carbachol- and GTPgammaS-induced IK.ACh with the IC50 values of 0.4 and 2.5 microM, respectively. In atrial cells stimulated at 0.2 Hz, aprindine (3 microM) per se prolonged the action potential duration (APD) by 50+/-4%. The drug also reversed the carbachol-induced action potential shortening in a concentration-dependent manner. In isolated hearts, perfusion of carbachol (1 microM) shortened monophasic action potential (MAP) and effective refractory period (ERP), and lowered atrial fibrillation threshold. Addition of aprindine (3 microM) inhibited the induction of AF by prolonging MAP and ERP. We conclude the efficacy of aprindine against AF may be at least in part explained by its inhibitory effects on IKr and IK.ACh.
