Activation of the skeletal muscle calcium release channel by a cytoplasmic loop of the dihydropyridine receptor.

Expression studies with skeletal and cardiac muscle cDNAs have suggested that the putative cytoplasmic loop region of the dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR) alpha 1 subunit between transmembrane repeats II and III (DCL) is a major determinant of the type of excitation-contraction coupling (skeletal or cardiac) in rescued dysgenic muscle cells (Tanabe, T., Beam, K. G., Adams, B. A., Niidome, T., and Numa, S. (1990) Nature 346, 567-569). In this study, the possibility of a direct functional interaction with the sarcoplasmic reticulum ryanodine receptor/Ca2+ release channel has been tested by expressing the DCLs of the mammalian skeletal and cardiac muscle DHPR alpha 1 subunit in Escherichia coli. The purified peptides activated the skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor/Ca2+ release channel in single channel and 3Hryanodine binding measurements, by increasing channel open probability and the affinity of 3Hryanodine binding, respectively. The two peptides did not activate the cardiac muscle Ca2+ release channel. Other proteins (polylysine, serum albumin) also increased 3Hryanodine binding and Ca2+ release channel activity, but their activation mechanisms were distinguishable from DCLs. These results show that the II-III cytoplasmic loop of the skeletal and cardiac DHPR alpha 1 subunit functionally interacts with the skeletal, but not cardiac, muscle Ca2+ release channel. Furthermore, our studies suggest that in addition to the DHPR, the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release channel may determine the type of E-C coupling that exists in muscle.