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Deactivation Kinetics (deactivation + kinetics)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	72%
Chemistry	18%

Selected Abstracts

In vitro characterization of HCN channel kinetics and frequency dependence in myocytes predicts biological pacemaker functionality

THE JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 7 2009
Xin Zhao
The pacemaker current, mediated by hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels, contributes to the initiation and regulation of cardiac rhythm. Previous experiments creating HCN-based biological pacemakers in vivo found that an engineered HCN2/HCN1 chimeric channel (HCN212) resulted in significantly faster rates than HCN2, interrupted by 1,5 s pauses. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying the differences in HCN212 and HCN2 in vivo functionality as biological pacemakers, we studied newborn rat ventricular myocytes over-expressing either HCN2 or HCN212 channels. The HCN2- and HCN212-over-expressing myocytes manifest similar voltage dependence, current density and sensitivity to saturating cAMP concentrations, but HCN212 has faster activation/deactivation kinetics. Compared with HCN2, myocytes expressing HCN212 exhibit a faster spontaneous rate and greater incidence of irregular rhythms (i.e. periods of rapid spontaneous rate followed by pauses). To explore these rhythm differences further, we imposed consecutive pacing and found that activation kinetics of the two channels are slower at faster pacing frequencies. As a result, time-dependent HCN current flowing during diastole decreases for both constructs during a train of stimuli at a rapid frequency, with the effect more pronounced for HCN2. In addition, the slower deactivation kinetics of HCN2 contributes to more pronounced instantaneous current at a slower frequency. As a result of the frequency dependence of both instantaneous and time-dependent current, HCN2 exhibits more robust negative feedback than HCN212, contributing to the maintenance of a stable pacing rhythm. These results illustrate the benefit of screening HCN constructs in spontaneously active myocyte cultures and may provide the basis for future optimization of HCN-based biological pacemakers. [source]

Androgen modulates the kinetics of the delayed rectifying K+ current in the electric organ of a weakly electric fish

DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROBIOLOGY, Issue 12 2007
M. Lynne McAnelly
Abstract Weakly electric fish such as Sternopygus macrurus utilize a unique signal production system, the electric organ (EO), to navigate within their environment and to communicate with conspecifics. The electric organ discharge (EOD) generated by the Sternopygus electric organ is quasi-sinusoidal and sexually dimorphic; sexually mature males produce long duration EOD pulses at low frequencies, whereas mature females produce short duration EOD pulses at high frequencies. EOD frequency is set by a medullary pacemaker nucleus, while EOD pulse duration is determined by the kinetics of Na+ and K+ currents in the electric organ. The inactivation of the Na+ current and the activation of the delayed rectifying K+ current of the electric organ covary with EOD frequency such that the kinetics of both currents are faster in fish with high (female) EOD frequency than those with low (male) EOD frequencies. Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) implants masculinize the EOD centrally by decreasing frequency at the pacemaker nucleus (PMN). DHT also acts at the electric organ, broadening the EO pulse, which is at least partly due to a slowing of the inactivation kinetics of the Na+ current. Here, we show that chronic DHT treatment also slows the activation and deactivation kinetics of the electric organ's delayed rectifying K+ current. Thus, androgens coregulate the time-varying kinetics of two distinct ion currents in the EO to shape a sexually dimorphic communication signal. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol, 2007 [source]

Sex differences in and hormonal regulation of Kv1 potassium channel gene expression in the electric organ: Molecular control of a social signal

DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2007
W. Preston Few
Abstract Electric fish communicate with electric organ (EO) discharges (EODs) that are sexually dimorphic, hormone-sensitive, and often individually distinct. The cells of the EO (electrocytes) of the weakly electric fish Sternopygus possess delayed rectifying K+ currents that systematically vary in their activation and deactivation kinetics, and this precise variation in K+ current kinetics helps shape sex and individual differences in the EOD. Because members of the Kv1 subfamily produce delayed rectifier currents, we cloned a number of genes in the Kv1 subfamily from the EO of Sternopygus. Using our sequences and those from genome databases, we found that in teleost fish Kv1.1 and Kv1.2 exist as duplicate pairs (Kv1.1a&b, Kv1.2a&b) whereas Kv1.3 does not. Using real-time quantitative RT-PCR, we found that Kv1.1a and Kv1.2a, but not Kv1.2b, expression in the EO is higher in high EOD frequency females (which have fast EO K+ currents) than in low EOD frequency males (which have slow EO K+ currents). Systemic treatment with dihydrotestosterone decreased Kv1.1a and Kv1.2a, but not Kv1.2b, expression in the EO, whereas treatment with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) increased Kv1.2a but not Kv1.1a or Kv1.2b expression in the EO. Thus, systematic variation in the ratios of Kv1 channels expressed in the EO is correlated with individual differences in and sexual dimorphism of a communication signal. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol, 2007 [source]

Dominance of the lurcher mutation in heteromeric kainate and AMPA receptor channels

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 5 2001
Martin K. Schwarz
Abstract Homomeric glutamate receptor (GluR) channels become spontaneously active when the last alanine residue within the invariant SYTANLAAF-motif in the third membrane segment is substituted by threonine. The same mutation in the orphan GluR,2 channel is responsible for neurodegeneration in ,Lurcher' (Lc) mice. Since most native GluRs are composed of different subunits, we investigated the effect of an Lc-mutated subunit in heteromeric kainate and AMPA receptors expressed in HEK293 cells. Kainate receptor KA2 subunits, either wild type or carrying the Lc mutation (KA2Lc), are retained inside the cell but are surface-expressed when assembled with GluR6 sununits. Importantly, KA2Lc dominates the gating of KA2Lc/GluR6WT channels, as revealed by spontaneous activation and by slowed desensitization and deactivation kinetics of ligand-activated whole-cell currents. Moreover, the AMPA receptor subunit GluR-BLc(Q) which forms spontaneously active homomeric channels with rectifying current-voltage relationships, dominates the gating of heteromeric GluR-BLc(Q)/GluR-A(R) channels. The spontaneous currents of these heteromeric AMPAR channels show linear current,voltage relationships, and the ligand-activated whole-cell currents display slower deactivation and desensitization kinetics than the respective wild-type channels. For heteromeric Lc-mutated kainate and AMPA receptors, the effects on kinetics were reduced relative to the homomeric Lc-mutated forms. Thus, an Lc-mutated subunit can potentially influence heteromeric channel function in vivo, and the severity of the phenotype will critically depend on the levels of homomeric GluRLc and heteromeric GluRLc/GluRWT channels. [source]

Stabilization of penicillin V acylase from Streptomyces lavendulae by covalent immobilization

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 5 2001
Jesús Torres-Bacete
Abstract Penicillin,V acylase from the actinomycete Streptomyces lavendulae ATCC 13664 has been immobilized to epoxy-activated acrylic beads (Eupergit C®) by covalent binding. Further linkage of bovine serum albumin after enzyme immobilization was carried out in order to remove the remaining oxirane groups of the support. The obtained immobilized biocatalyst displayed double exponential deactivation kinetics at temperatures below 55,°C, while the native enzyme followed single exponential decay at the same temperatures. We concluded that soluble penicillin acylase was deactivated in one step, whereas the immobilized enzyme showed an enzymatic intermediate state which is highly thermostable. As a consequence of the immobilization process, the enzyme displayed a 10-fold increase in its half-life at 40,°C. At this temperature, the enzymatic intermediate state was progressively destabilized as the pH of the medium was increased. Thus, the optimum pH range for the immobilized enzyme preparation was established as being from 7.0 to 8.0. Higher pH values led to quicker enzyme deactivation. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

Optimization of inlet temperature for deactivating LTWGS reactor performance

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 7 2005
J. L. Ayastuy
Abstract An industrial Cu-based low-temperature water-gas shift (LTWGS) reactor, subject to deactivation by irreversible chlorine adsorption, has been modeled and optimized. Both the chlorine adsorption kinetics and deactivation kinetics were assumed first order to chlorine partial pressure, and the rate constants were considered independent of temperature. The Efficient Production (EP) method has been used to compute the reactor production until the outlet CO conversion decays below a permissible minimum level. Two alternative strategies for the inlet temperature have been used to maximize the EP: constant and time-variable. Compared to the EP obtained for the optimum constant inlet temperatures, EP resulting from the use of the optimum time-variable inlet temperature sequence were higher, affording important energy savings. Furthermore, a sensitivity study with respect to most influential operational variables, such as inlet total flow rate, steam-to-gas ratio, pressure, and concentrations of chlorine, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and inert content, was carried out. © 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2005 [source]

Properties of glycine receptors underlying synaptic currents in presynaptic axon terminals of rod bipolar cells in the rat retina

THE JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 15 2009
Svein Harald Mørkve
The excitability of presynaptic terminals can be controlled by synaptic input that directly targets the terminals. Retinal rod bipolar axon terminals receive presynaptic input from different types of amacrine cells, some of which are glycinergic. Here, we have performed patch-clamp recordings from rod bipolar axon terminals in rat retinal slices. We used whole-cell recordings to study glycinergic inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) under conditions of adequate local voltage clamp and outside-out patch recordings to study biophysical and pharmacological properties of the glycine receptors with ultrafast application. Glycinergic IPSCs, recorded in both intact cells and isolated terminals, were strychnine sensitive and displayed fast kinetics with a double-exponential decay. Ultrafast application of brief (,1 ms) pulses of glycine (3 mm) to patches evoked responses with fast, double-exponential deactivation kinetics, no evidence of desensitization in double-pulse experiments, relatively low apparent affinity (EC50,100 ,m), and high maximum open probability (,0.9). Longer pulses evoked slow, double-exponential desensitization and double-pulse experiments indicated slow, double-exponential recovery from desensitization. Non-stationary noise analysis of IPSCs and patch responses yielded single-channel conductances of ,41 pS and ,64 pS, respectively. Directly observed single-channel gating occurred at ,40,50 pS and ,80,90 pS in both types of responses, suggesting a mixture of heteromeric and homomeric receptors. Synaptic release of glycine leads to transient receptor activation, with about eight receptors available to bind transmitter after release of a single vesicle. With a low intracellular chloride concentration, this leads to either hyperpolarizing or shunting inhibition that will counteract passive and regenerative depolarization and depolarization-evoked transmitter release. [source]

In vitro characterization of HCN channel kinetics and frequency dependence in myocytes predicts biological pacemaker functionality

Accumulation of cytoplasmic calcium, but not apamin-sensitive afterhyperpolarization current, during high frequency firing in rat subthalamic nucleus cells

THE JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 3 2008
Mark Teagarden
The autonomous firing pattern of neurons in the rat subthalamic nucleus (STN) is shaped by action potential afterhyperpolarization currents. One of these is an apamin-sensitive calcium-dependent potassium current (SK). The duration of SK current is usually considered to be limited by the clearance of calcium from the vicinity of the channel. When the cell is driven to fire faster, calcium is expected to accumulate, and this is expected to result in accumulation of calcium-dependent AHP current. We measured the time course of calcium transients in the soma and proximal dendrites of STN neurons during spontaneous firing and their accumulation during driven firing. We compared these to the time course and accumulation of AHP currents using whole-cell and perforated patch recordings. During spontaneous firing, a rise in free cytoplasmic calcium was seen after each action potential, and decayed with a time constant of about 200 ms in the soma, and 80 ms in the dendrites. At rates higher than 10 Hz, calcium transients accumulated as predicted. In addition, there was a slow calcium transient not predicted by summation of action potentials that became more pronounced at high firing frequency. Spike AHP currents were measured in voltage clamp as tail currents after 2 ms voltage pulses that triggered action currents. Apamin-sensitive AHP (SK) current was measured by subtraction of tail currents obtained before and after treatment with apamin. SK current peaked between 10 and 15 ms after an action potential, had a decay time constant of about 30 ms, and showed no accumulation. At frequencies between 5 and 200 spikes s,1, the maximal SK current remained the same as that evoked by a single action potential. AHP current did not have time to decay between action potentials, so at frequencies above 50 spikes s,1 the apamin-sensitive current was effectively constant. These results are inconsistent with the view that the decay of SK current is governed by calcium dynamics. They suggest that the calcium is present at the SK channel for a very short time after each action potential, and the current decays at a rate set by the deactivation kinetics of the SK channel. At high rates, repetitive firing was governed by a fast apamin-insensitive AHP current that did not accumulate, but rather showed depression with increases in activation frequency. A slowly accumulating AHP current, also insensitive to apamin, was extremely small at low rates but became significant with higher firing rates. [source]

Spontaneous IPSCs and glycine receptors with slow kinetics in wide-field amacrine cells in the mature rat retina

THE JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 1 2007
Margaret Lin Veruki
The functional properties of glycine receptors were analysed in different types of wide-field amacrine cells, narrowly stratifying cells considered to play a role in larger-scale integration across the retina. The patch-clamp technique was used to record spontaneous IPSCs (spIPSCs) and glycine-evoked patch responses from mature rat retinal slices (4,7 weeks postnatal). Glycinergic spIPSCs were blocked reversibly by strychnine (300 nm). Compared to previously described spIPSCs in AII amacrine cells, the spIPSCs in wide-field amacrine cells displayed a very slow decay time course (,fast, 15 ms; ,slow, 57 ms). The kinetic properties of spIPSCs in whole-cell recordings were paralleled by even slower deactivation kinetics of responses evoked by brief pulses of glycine (3 mm) to outside-out patches from wide-field amacrine cells (,fast, 45 ms; ,slow, 350 ms). Non-stationary noise analysis of patch responses and spIPSCs yielded similar average single-channel conductances (,31 and ,34 pS, respectively). Similar, as well as both lower- and higher-conductance levels could be identified from directly observed single-channel gating during the decay phase of spIPSCs and patch responses. These results suggest that the slow glycinergic spIPSCs in wide-field amacrine cells involve ,2, heteromeric receptors. Taken together with previous work, the kinetic properties of glycine receptors in different types of amacrine cells display a considerable range that is probably a direct consequence of differential expression of receptor subunits. Unique kinetic properties are likely to differentially shape the glycinergic input to different types of amacrine cells and thereby contribute to distinct integrative properties among these cells. [source]

Quercetin as a novel activator of L-type Ca2+ channels in rat tail artery smooth muscle cells

BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 7 2002
Simona Saponara
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of quercetin, a natural polyphenolic flavonoid, on voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels of smooth muscle cells freshly isolated from the rat tail artery, using either the conventional or the amphotericin B-perforated whole-cell patch-clamp method. Quercetin increased L-type Ca2+ current [ICa(L)] in a concentration- (pEC50=5.09±0.05) and voltage-dependent manner and shifted the maximum of the current-voltage relationship by 10 mV in the hyperpolarizing direction, without, however, modifying the threshold and the equilibrium potential for Ca2+. Quercetin-induced ICa(L) stimulation was reversible upon wash-out. T-type Ca2+ current was not affected by quercetin. Quercetin shifted the voltage dependence of the steady-state inactivation and activation curves to more negative potentials by about 5.5 and 7.5 mV respectively, in the mid-potential of the curves as well as increasing the slope of activation. Quercetin slowed both the activation and the deactivation kinetics of the ICa(L). The inactivation time course was also slowed but only at voltages higher than 10 mV. Moreover quercetin slowed the rate of recovery from inactivation. These results prove quercetin to be a naturally-occurring L-type Ca2+ channel activator. British Journal of Pharmacology (2002) 135, 1819,1827; doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0704631 [source]