High Efficacy by GAL-021: A Known Intravenous Peripheral Chemoreceptor Modulator that Suppresses BK<sub>Ca</sub>-Channel Activity and Inhibits <i>I</i><sub>K(M)</sub> or <i>I</i><sub>h</sub>

oleh: Te-Ling Lu, Zi-Han Gao, Shih-Wei Li, Sheng-Nan Wu

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2020-01-01

Deskripsi

GAL-021 has recently been developed as a novel breathing control modulator. However, modifications of ionic currents produced by this agent remain uncertain, although its efficacy in suppressing the activity of big-conductance Ca<sup>2+</sup>-activated K<sup>+</sup> (BK<sub>Ca</sub>) channels has been reported. In pituitary tumor (GH<sub>3</sub>) cells, we found that the presence of GAL-021 decreased the amplitude of macroscopic Ca<sup>2+</sup>-activated K<sup>+</sup> current (<i>I</i><sub>K(Ca)</sub>) in a concentration-dependent manner with an effective IC<sub>50</sub> of 2.33 &#956;M. GAL-021-mediated reduction of <i>I</i><sub>K(Ca)</sub> was reversed by subsequent application of verteporfin or ionomycin; however, it was not by that of diazoxide. In inside-out current recordings, the addition of GAL-021 to the bath markedly decreased the open-state probability of BK<sub>Ca</sub> channels. This agent also resulted in a rightward shift in voltage dependence of the activation curve of BK<sub>Ca</sub> channels; however, neither the gating charge of the curve nor single-channel conductance of the channel was changed. There was an evident lengthening of the mean closed time of BK<sub>Ca</sub> channels in the presence of GAL-021, with no change in mean open time. The GAL-021 addition also suppressed M-type K<sup>+</sup> current with an effective IC<sub>50</sub> of 3.75 &#956;M; however, its presence did not alter the amplitude of <i>erg</i>-mediated K<sup>+</sup> current, or mildly suppressed delayed-rectifier K<sup>+</sup> current. GAL-021 at a concentration of 30 &#956;M could also suppress hyperpolarization-activated cationic current. In HEK293T cells expressing <i>&#945;-hSlo</i>, the addition of GAL-021 was also able to suppress the BK<sub>Ca</sub>-channel open probabilities, and GAL-021-mediated suppression of BK<sub>Ca</sub>-channel activity was attenuated by further addition of BMS-191011. Collectively, the GAL-021 effects presented herein do not exclusively act on BK<sub>Ca</sub> channels and these modifications on ionic currents exert significant influence on the functional activities of electrically excitable cells occurring in vivo.