Key result
Cysteine-modifying agents and substance P inhibited recombinant Cav3.2 currents, an effect reversed by reducing agents and zinc chelators, highlighting a redox-sensitive extracellular module.
Oxidative modification of IS1-IS2 loop cysteines in Cav3.2 channels induces allosteric changes in the zinc-binding site, rendering it sensitive to ambient zinc.
T-type (Cav3) Ca 2+ channels are important regulators of excitability and rhythmic activity of excitable cells. Among other voltage-gated Ca 2+ channels, Cav3 channels are uniquely sensitive to oxidation and zinc. Using recombinant protein expression in HEK293 cells, patch clamp electrophysiology, site-directed mutagenesis, and homology modeling, we report here that modulation of Cav3.2 by redox agents and zinc is mediated by a unique extracellular module containing a high-affinity metal-binding site formed by the extracellular IS1–IS2 and IS3–IS4 loops of domain I and a cluster of extracellular cysteines in the IS1–IS2 loop. Patch clamp recording of recombinant Cav3.2 currents revealed that two cysteine-modifying agents, sodium (2-sulfonatoethyl) methanethiosulfonate (MTSES) and N -ethylmaleimide, as well as a reactive oxygen species–producing neuropeptide, substance P (SP), inhibit Cav3.2 current to similar degrees and that this inhibition is reversed by a reducing agent and a zinc chelator. Pre-application of MTSES prevented further SP-mediated current inhibition. Substitution of the zinc-binding residue His 191 in Cav3.2 reduced the channel's sensitivity to MTSES, and introduction of the corresponding histidine into Cav3.1 sensitized it to MTSES. Removal of extracellular cysteines from the IS1–IS2 loop of Cav3.2 reduced its sensitivity to MTSES and SP. We hypothesize that oxidative modification of IS1–IS2 loop cysteines induces allosteric changes in the zinc-binding site of Cav3.2 so that it becomes sensitive to ambient zinc.
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Huang et al. (2020) studied T-type Ca2+ channel modulation. Cysteine-modifying agents (MTSES, N-ethylmaleimide) and substance P was evaluated on Cav3.2 current inhibition. Cysteine-modifying agents and substance P inhibited recombinant Cav3.2 currents, an effect reversed by reducing agents and zinc chelators, highlighting a redox-sensitive extracellular module.
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