Browsing by Author "Tedford, Hugo William"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The immediately releasable pool of mouse chromaffin cell vesicles is coupled to P/Q-type calcium channels via the synaptic protein interaction site
    (PLOS one, 2013-01-30) Álvarez, Yanina D.; Belingheri, Ana Verónica; Perez Bay, Andrés E.; Javis, Scott E.; Tedford, Hugo William; Zamponi, Gerald W.; Marengo, Fernando D.
    It is generally accepted that the immediately releasable pool is a group of readily releasable vesicles that are closely associated with voltage dependent Ca(2+) channels. We have previously shown that exocytosis of this pool is specifically coupled to P/Q Ca(2+) current. Accordingly, in the present work we found that the Ca(2+) current flowing through P/Q-type Ca(2+) channels is 8 times more effective at inducing exocytosis in response to short stimuli than the current carried by L-type channels. To investigate the mechanism that underlies the coupling between the immediately releasable pool and P/Q-type channels we transiently expressed in mouse chromaffin cells peptides corresponding to the synaptic protein interaction site of Cav2.2 to competitively uncouple P/Q-type channels from the secretory vesicle release complex. This treatment reduced the efficiency of Ca(2+) current to induce exocytosis to similar values as direct inhibition of P/Q-type channels via ω-agatoxin-IVA. In addition, the same treatment markedly reduced immediately releasable pool exocytosis, but did not affect the exocytosis provoked by sustained electric or high K(+) stimulation. Together, our results indicate that the synaptic protein interaction site is a crucial factor for the establishment of the functional coupling between immediately releasable pool vesicles and P/Q-type Ca(2+) channels.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Scanning mutagenesis of the I-II loop of the Cav2.2 calcium channel identifies residues Arginine 376 and Valine 416 as molecular determinants of voltage dependent G protein inhibition
    (BioMed Central Ltd., 2010-02-03) Tedford, Hugo William; Kisilevsky, Alexandra E.; Vieira, Luciene Bruno; Varela, Diego L.; Chen, Lina; Zamponi, Gerald W.
    Direct interaction with the beta subunit of the heterotrimeric G protein complex causes voltage-dependent inhibition of N-type calcium channels. To further characterize the molecular determinants of this interaction, we performed scanning mutagenesis of residues 372-387 and 410-428 of the N-type channel alpha1 subunit, in which individual residues were replaced by either alanine or cysteine. We coexpressed wild type Gbeta1gamma2 subunits with either wild type or point mutant N-type calcium channels, and voltage-dependent, G protein-mediated inhibition of the channels (VDI) was assessed using patch clamp recordings. The resulting data indicate that Arg376 and Val416 of the alpha1 subunit, residues which are surface-exposed in the presence of the calcium channel beta subunit, contribute significantly to the functional inhibition by Gbeta1. To further characterize the roles of Arg376 and Val416 in this interaction, we performed secondary mutagenesis of these residues, coexpressing the resulting mutants with wild type Gbeta1gamma2 subunits and with several isoforms of the auxiliary beta subunit of the N-type channel, again assessing VDI using patch clamp recordings. The results confirm the importance of Arg376 for G protein-mediated inhibition and show that a single amino acid substitution to phenylalanine drastically alters the abilities of auxiliary calcium channel subunits to regulate G protein inhibition of the channel.