Cysteine 723 in the C-linker segment confers oxidative inhibition of hERG1 potassium channels.

Excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a crucial role under pathophysiological conditions, such as ischaemia/reperfusion and diabetes, potentially contributing to cardiac arrhythmia. hERG1 (KCNH2) potassium channels terminate the cardiac action potential and malfunction can lead to long-QT syndrome and fatal arrhythmia. To investigate the molecular mechanisms of hERG1 channel alteration by ROS, hERG1 and mutants thereof were expressed in HEK293 cells and studied with the whole-cell patch-clamp method. Even mild ROS stress induced by hyperglycaemia markedly decreased channel current. Intracellular H2O2 or cysteine-specific modifiers also strongly inhibited channel activity and accelerated deactivation kinetics. Mutagenesis revealed that cysteine 723 (C723), a conserved residue in a structural element linking the C-terminal domain to the channel's gate, is critical for oxidative functional modification. Moreover, kinetics of channel closure strongly influences ROS-induced modification, where rapid channel deactivation diminishes ROS sensitivity. Because of its fast deactivation kinetics, the N-terminally truncated splice variant hERG1b possesses greater resistance to oxidative modification.

Functional consequences of methionine oxidation of hERG potassium channels.

Reactive species oxidatively modify numerous proteins including ion channels. Oxidative sensitivity of ion channels is often conferred by amino acids containing sulfur atoms, such as cysteine and methionine. Functional consequences of oxidative modification of methionine in human ether à go-go related gene 1 (hERG1), which encodes cardiac I(Kr) channels, are unknown. Here we used chloramine-T (ChT), which preferentially oxidizes methionine, to examine the functional consequences of methionine oxidation of hERG channels stably expressed in a human embryonic kidney cell line (HEK 293) and native hERG channels in a human neuroblastoma cell line (SH-SY5Y). ChT (300 microM) significantly decreased whole-cell hERG current in both HEK 293 and SH-SY5Y cells. In HEK 293 cells, the effects of ChT on hERG current were time- and concentration-dependent, and were markedly attenuated in the presence of enzyme methionine sulfoxide reductase A that specifically repairs oxidized methionine. After treatment with ChT, the channel deactivation upon repolarization to -60 or -100 mV was significantly accelerated. The effect of ChT on channel activation kinetics was voltage-dependent; activation slowed during depolarization to +30 mV but accelerated during depolarization to 0 or -10mV. In contrast, the reversal potential, inactivation kinetics, and voltage-dependence of steady-state inactivation remained unaltered. Our results demonstrate that the redox status of methionine is an important modulator of hERG channel.