Why the study?
High-voltage-activated R-type CaV2.3 channels play pivotal physiological roles and are implicated in epilepsy, convulsions, and neurodevelopmental impairments, but their gating mechanisms were incompletely understood.
Elucidates the structural basis for the gating and inactivation mechanisms of the human CaV2.3 channel, providing a foundation for understanding its role in physiological and pathophysiological processes.
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Structural insights into CaV2.3 gating remain preclinical; leaves open whether they enable selective channel modulators in humans.
High-voltage-activated R-type Ca V 2.3 channel plays pivotal roles in many physiological activities and is implicated in epilepsy, convulsions, and other neurodevelopmental impairments. Here, we determine the high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of human Ca V 2.3 in complex with the α2δ1 and β1 subunits. The VSD II is stabilized in the resting state. Electrophysiological experiments elucidate that the conformational change of VSD II in response to variation in membrane potential is not required for channel activation, whereas the other VSDs are essential for channel opening. The intracellular gate is blocked by the W-helix. A pre-W-helix adjacent to the W-helix can significantly regulate closed-state inactivation (CSI) by modulating the association and dissociation of the W-helix with the gate. Electrostatic interactions formed between the negatively charged domain on S6 II , which is exclusively conserved in the Ca V 2 family, and nearby regions at the alpha-interacting domain (AID) and S4-S5 II helix are identified. Further functional analyses indicate that these interactions are critical for the open-state inactivation (OSI) of Ca V 2 channels.
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Gao et al. (2022) studied this question.
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