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Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 294: C423-C431, 2008. First published December 19, 2007; doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00393.2007
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MEMBRANE TRANSPORTERS, ION CHANNELS, AND PUMPS

Modulation of the Kir7.1 potassium channel by extracellular and intracellular pH

Bret A. Hughes1,2 and Anuradha Swaminathan1

Departments of 1Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and 2Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Submitted 30 August 2007 ; accepted in final form 17 December 2007


    ABSTRACT
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 GRANTS
 REFERENCES
 
Inwardly rectifying K+ (Kir) channels in the apical membrane of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) contribute to extracellular K+ homeostasis in the distal retina by mediating K+ secretion. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that these channels are composed of Kir7.1. Previously, we showed that native Kir channels in bovine RPE are modulated by changes in intracellular pH in the physiological range. In the present study, we used the Xenopus laevis oocyte expression system to investigate the pH dependence of cloned human Kir7.1 channels and several point mutants involving histidine residues in the NH2 and COOH termini. Kir7.1 channels were inhibited by strong extracellular acidification and modulated by intracellular pH in a biphasic manner, with maximal activity at about intracellular pH (pHi) 7.0 and inhibition by acidification or alkalinization. Replacement of histidine 26 (H26) in the NH2 terminus with alanine eliminated the requirement of protons for channel activity and increased sensitivity to proton-induced inhibition, resulting in maximal channel activity at alkaline pHi and smaller whole cell currents at resting pHi compared with wild-type Kir7.1. When H26 was replaced with arginine, the pHi sensitivity profile was similar to that of the H26A mutant but with the pKa shifted to a more acidic value, giving rise to whole cell current amplitude at resting pHi that was comparable to that of wild-type Kir7.1. These results indicate that Kir7.1 channels are modulated by intracellular protons by diverse mechanisms and suggest that H26 is important for channel activation at physiological pHi and that it influences an unidentified proton-induced inhibitory mechanism.

patch clamp; Xenopus oocyte; mutagenesis


INWARDLY RECTIFYING K+ (Kir) channels comprise a large group of K+-selective channels that share the property of supporting larger inward than outward K+ current. Widely expressed in both excitable and nonexcitable cells, Kir channels are involved in such diverse functions as intracellular and extracellular K+ homeostasis and neuronal excitability. Among the Kir gene family members, Kir7.1 is the most divergent in amino acid sequence and is characterized by unique permeation properties, notably an inverse dependence of macroscopic conductance on extracellular K+ concentration ([K+]), a 10-fold higher conductance for Rb+ than K+, and a very small single-channel conductance on the order of 0.05 to 0.2 pS (2, 8, 21, 25). Kir7.1 is expressed in thyroid follicular cells (15) as well as a number of epithelia, including choroid plexus, small intestine (15), kidney (1, 16), and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) (9, 21).

Biochemical, molecular biological, and biophysical evidence indicates that Kir7.1 channels are the basis for the mild inwardly rectifying K+ conductance in the RPE (21). Immunohistochemisty has demonstrated that Kir7.1 channels are abundantly expressed in the apical microvilli (29), where they operate in conjunction with Na+-K+-ATPase to regulate the concentration of K+ in the extracellular space that separates the RPE from the rod and cone photoreceptor outer segments (5). Previously, we showed that the Kir conductance of native bovine RPE cells is modulated by both extracellular pH (pHo) and intracellular pH (pHi) (30). Kir conductance in these cells is relatively independent of pHo in the range from 6.5 to 9.0, but it is strongly inhibited at pHo below 6.0. In contrast, the Kir conductance is highly sensitive to pHi within the physiological range: conductance is augmented by mild intracellular acidification but is inhibited by either strong acidification or alkalinization. A similar bell-shaped relationship between conductance and pHi was obtained when the charge carrier was Rb+, which increases Kir7.1 channel conductance, suggesting that this pH sensitivity reflects a property of Kir7.1 channels.

In the present study, we investigated the sensitivity of cloned human Kir7.1 channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes to changes in extracellular and intracellular pH. We find that the macroscopic Kir7.1 conductance in intact oocytes is relatively insensitive to pHo in the range 6.0–9.0 but is inhibited when the extracellular solution is acidified to pHo < 6.0. Using excised inside-out macropatches, we demonstrate that the Kir7.1 conductance is maximally active at about pHi 7.0 and is inhibited by either alkalinization or strong acidification. Site-directed mutagenesis of histidine residues in the NH2 and COOH termini followed by functional analysis led to the identification of a histidine residue in the NH2 terminus that is critical to the pHi sensitivity of Kir7.1 channels.


    MATERIALS AND METHODS
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 GRANTS
 REFERENCES
 
Expression of Kir7.1 in Xenopus oocytes. Capped poly-A+ cRNA was synthesized from linearized transcription plasmid cDNA containing the coding region of human Kir7.1 (21) using a commercially available cRNA capping kit (mMessage mMachine T7 kit; Ambion, Austin, TX). cRNA was precipitated, washed in 70% ethanol, dried, and redissolved in diethyl pyrocarbonate (DEPC)-treated water. Site-directed mutations were performed with a site-directed mutagenesis kit (QuikChange Site-Directed Mutagenesis Kit; Stratagene, La Jolla, CA). The orientation of constructs and fidelity of mutations was confirmed by DNA sequencing.

All procedures with animals were designed to minimize pain and suffering and conformed to the guidelines of the National Institutes of Health. The University of Michigan Committee on the Use and Care of Animals reviewed and approved the protocols for animal use. Xenopus laevis oocytes were surgically removed from deeply anesthetized (topical 0.15% tricane methane sulfonate) adult females, and they were defolliculated by incubating clusters of oocytes in 0.2% collagenase (type IV, Sigma Chemical, St. Louis, MO) in calcium-free ND96 solution (96 mM NaCl, 2 mM KCl, 1 mM MgCl2, 10 mM Na-HEPES, 300 µg/ml gentamycin, 300 µg/ml anakacin, and 550 µg/ml sodium pyruvate, pH 7.4). Healthy-looking stage V–VI oocytes were injected with 10–20 ng wild-type or mutant Kir7.1 cRNA in 50 nl DEPC-treated water, and maintained at 18°C in incubation solution plus 1 mM CaCl2 for up to 72 h before recording was performed.

Solutions. The standard bath solution for recording intact oocytes (ND96) consisted of (in mM) 96 NaCl, 2 KCl, 10 Na-HEPES, 1.0 CaCl2, and 1.0 MgCl2, pH 7.4. In some experiments, NaCl was replaced with KCl (98 mM K+ solution) or both NaCl and KCl were replaced with RbCl (98 mM Rb+ solution). To test the effect of changes in extracellular pH, we used the membrane-impermeable buffer phthalate (10 mM) in place of HEPES and titrated with either HCl or NaOH to the desired pH. To prevent channel rundown in excised macropatches due to depletion of membrane phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) (18), the cytoplasmic side was bathed with a modified FVPP solution containing (in mM) 100 KCl, 5 HEPES, 5 EGTA, 4 NaF, 3 Na3VO4, and 10 Na2P2O7. Poly-L-lysine (4–15 kDa) and other chemicals were purchased from Sigma Chemical.

Solutions were delivered to the recording chamber (~300-µl volume) by gravity feed at a rate of ~2 ml/min and were changed by a combination of six-way and slider valves. In experiments measuring the time course of poly-L-lysine-induced channel rundown, the solution outside the excised patch was rapidly changed with a perfusion fast-step device (model SF-77B, Warner Instruments, Hamden, CT).

Electrophysiology. Whole cell currents were recorded using the two-electrode voltage-clamp technique (23). Microelectrodes, pulled from thick-wall borosilicate glass (outer diameter = 1.0 mm; inner diameter = 0.5 mm) with a multistage programmable puller (Sutter Instruments, San Rafael, CA) and having an impedance of 0.5–1.5 M{Omega} when filled with 3 M KCl, were used as voltage-sensing and current-passing electrodes. Signals from the current-passing electrode were amplified with a GeneClamp 500 amplifier (Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, CA) with the built-in low pass filter set to 0.5 or 1 kHz and were stored in the computer for later analysis. Data acquisition and analysis were performed with pCLAMP 8.0 or 9.0 software (Molecular Devices).

For excised-patch recordings, the vitelline membrane was manually removed after oocytes were exposed to a hypertonic solution [400 mosmol/kgH2O: 220 mM N-methyl-D-glucamine (NMDG)-Cl, 5 mM EGTA-KOH, 1 mM MgCl2 and 10 mM HEPES] for 5–10 min. Patch pipettes were pulled from 7052 glass tubing (outer diameter = 1.65 mm; inner diameter = 1.2 mm, Garner Glass, Claremont, CA), heat polished to a resistance in the range 0.5–1.5 M{Omega}, and filled with pipette solution containing 10 mM HEPES-NMDG-free base and 98 mM RbCl (pH 7.4). Pipette tips were sealed on the plasma membrane close to the site of cRNA injection to obtain maximal current density (13). Currents were recorded with a GeneClamp 500 amplifier at a sampling rate of 2 kHz with the built-in low-pass filter set to 0.5 kHz.

Voltage-clamp protocols and analysis. Current-voltage (I-V) relationships were determined from currents elicited by either a voltage-step or voltage-ramp protocol. In the voltage-step protocol, the membrane potential was held at 0 or –100 mV and was stepped for 0.5–1 s to voltages ranging from +50 to –150 mV in 10-mV steps. In the voltage-ramp protocol, the membrane potential was held at 0 mV and was ramped every 5 to 15 s from +50 to –150 mV over a 1-s period. Currents elicited by repeated voltage ramps were used to reconstruct the time course of changes in current at specific voltages.

Measurement of intracellular pH in oocytes. Intracellular pH was measured with pH-sensitive microelectrodes essentially as described by Leipziger et al. (11). Intracellular pH measurement involved simultaneous intracellular recordings with a pH-sensitive microelectrode and a conventional microelectrode. To make pH-selective microelectrodes, thick-wall borosilicate glass tubing was pulled as described above, baked in a glass petri dish on a hot plate at 120°C for 30 min, and then silanized by adding a few drops of hexamethyldisilazane (Fluka, Ronkonkoma, NY) into the petri dish and baking for an additional hour. The tips of the silanized microelectrodes were filled with a drop of hydrogen ionophore II, cocktail A (Fluka), and were back filled with a phosphate buffer containing (in mM) 40 KH2PO4, 23 NaOH, and 150 NaCl. pH-sensitive microelectrodes were calibrated with phosphate buffers titrated to pH 6.5, pH 7.5, and pH 8.5 and had slopes in the range 54–60 mV. The pH-sensitive and conventional microelectrodes were connected to a high-impedance amplifier (Axoprobe 1A, Molecular Devices) and were adjusted for offsets in the perfusion solution before oocyte impalement. pHi was calculated from the relationship:

Formula 1(1)
where VH is the voltage drop measured by the pH-sensitive microelectrode, Vm is the membrane potential measured by the conventional microelectrode, and S is the slope of the pH-sensitive microelectrode ({Delta}VH/pH unit).

Statistical analysis. Data are given as means ± SE and represent four or more measurements made from two more batches of oocytes. Statistical significance was calculated by ANOVA or the t-test, as appropriate. Data were fitted empirically to the Hill equation with the use of computer software (SigmaPlot version 8.0, SPSS, Chicago, IL).


    RESULTS
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 GRANTS
 REFERENCES
 
Kir7.1 channels are inhibited by extracellular acidification. We injected Xenopus oocytes with Kir7.1 cRNA and 1–3 days later recorded whole cell currents using the two-electrode voltage-clamp technique. To determine the dependence of Kir7.1 channel activity on extracellular pH, we exposed oocytes to ND96 (2 mM K+) solution buffered with the membrane-impermeable buffer phthalate to various pH values. Figure 1A shows families of Kir7.1-mediated whole cell currents recorded in the same oocyte exposed to ND96 buffered to pH 9.0, pH 8.0, pH 7.0, pH 6.0, or pH 5.5. There was small increase in Kir7.1 current as the extracellular pH was acidified from pHo 9.0 to pHo 6.0, but stronger acidification to pHo 5.5 caused pronounced inhibition (Fig. 1, A and B). The degree of inhibition produced by exposure to pHo 5.5 was essentially the same for both inward and outward currents (Fig. 1B), indicating that inhibition by external protons is voltage independent. Similar results were obtained in nine other oocytes and are summarized in Fig. 1C, which plots normalized inward current as a function of pHo.


Figure 1
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Fig. 1. Modulation of Kir7.1 current by extracellular pH. A: families of whole cell currents recorded in the same oocyte bathed with ND96 buffered with phthalate to pH 9.0, pH 8.0, pH 7.0, pH 6.0, or pH 5.5. Membrane voltage was held at –100 mV and was stepped to test voltages from –150 mV to +50 mV in 10-mV increments. Horizontal line to the left of each family of currents represents the zero-current level. B: current-voltage (I-V) relationships obtained from voltage ramps in the same oocyte as depicted in A at pH 9.0, pH 7.0, and pH 5.5. C: relationship between Kir7.1 current and extracellular pH (pHo). Inward current at –150 mV was measured at various test pHo values and was normalized by dividing by the current measured at pHo 7.4. Symbols and error bars represent means ± SE (n = 6–10).

 
Kir7.1 channels are modulated by intracellular pH in a complex manner. To determine the dependence of Kir7.1 channel activity on intracellular pH, we recorded from excised inside-out macropatches, which permitted the direct manipulation of the pH of the solution impinging on the intracellular face of the channel. To enhance resolution of Kir7.1 current, we recorded with 98 mM Rb+ in the pipette, which resulted in strongly rectifying inward currents that were about 10-fold larger than those obtained with the same concentration of K+ (21, 25; see Fig. 4). Figure 2 shows the results of a typical experiment in which the pH of the FVPP solution bathing the intracellular face of an inside-out macropatch was switched from pHi 7.4 to various test values. Acidification to pHi 6.0 or pHi 6.5 typically produced a transient increase in inward Kir7.1 current, followed by a slower decline to a new steady-state level that was less than the initial current at pHi 7.4 (Fig. 2A). This biphasic response can be seen more clearly in Fig. 2B, which shows I-V relationships obtained from the same macropatch at pHi 7.4, at pHi 6.0 at the peak of the transient activation, and at pHi 6.0 in the steady state. In contrast to the biphasic effect of acidification, alkalinization produced monotonic inhibition, with the degree of inhibition being proportional to the strength of alkalinity (Fig. 2, A and C). Although these pHi-induced changes were reversible, they were sometimes superimposed on a background of a spontaneous increase (run-up) or a decrease (rundown) in current amplitude. The reason for these spontaneous changes in current is unclear, but there was no apparent relationship between the amplitude of baseline current at pHi 7.4 and the fractional change in current produced by a given change in pHi (data not shown).


Figure 4
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Fig. 4. Comparison of the effects of high extracellular K+ and Rb+ on currents associated with wild-type and mutant Kir7.1 channels. Currents were measured in intact oocytes expressing wild-type and mutant Kir7.1 channels while superfusing with ND96 containing 2 mM K+ (closed bars), 98 mM K+ (shaded bars), or 98 mM Rb+ (open bars). Data represent means and SE (n = 4–19). *Significant (P < 0.05, t-test) difference in Rb+ current compared with wild-type Kir7.1.

 

Figure 2
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Fig. 2. Dependence of Kir7.1 Rb+ current on intracellular pH (pHi) in excised, inside-out macropatches. A: time course of inward current at –150 mV. The pH of the FVPP solution bathing the cytoplasmic face of an excised macropatch was switched from pHi 7.4 to the test values indicated by the open boxes. The pipette solution contained 98 mM Rb+. B: effect of acidification to pHi 6.0 on the I-V relationship. Data are from the same patch as that in A. The strong inward rectification is due to large Rb+ conductance of Kir7.1 channels. C: effect of alkalinization to pHi 8.5 on the I-V relationship. Data are from the same patch as that depicted in A and B. D: pHi sensitivity profile of wild-type Kir7.1. The current at –125 mV was measured at various test pHi values and was normalized by dividing by the current measured just before at pHi 7.4. Symbols and error bars represent means ± SE (n = 11). The solid curve represents the fit of the steady-state data to the sum of two Hill equations: y = 1.27/[1 + ([H+]/pK1)h1] – 0.75/[1 + ([H+]/pK2)h2], where pK1 = 8.2, h1 = 0.7, pK2 = 6.6, and h2 = 2.3. The dashed curve represents the fit of the peak data to a single Hill equation: y = 1.27/[1 + ([H+]/pK)h], where pK = 8.2 and h = 0.7.

 
The results of this and 11 other experiments are summarized in Fig. 2D, which plots normalized inward Kir7.1 current as a function of pHi. The steady-state relationship between Kir7.1 current and pHi is a bell-shaped curve, with an apparent maximum at about pHi 7.0 and inhibition with either alkalinization or acidification. Note that in the short-term, acidification from pHi 7.4 was stimulatory. The results suggest that protons modulate Kir7.1 channels by two mechanisms, one that is stimulatory and the other that is inhibitory. The mean steady-state data were fitted to the sum of two modified Hill equations, which yielded for the stimulatory component an apparent pKa and Hill coefficient of 8.2 and 0.7, respectively, and for the inhibitory component, an apparent pKa and Hill coefficient of 6.6 and 2.3, respectively.

Histidine 26 in the NH2 terminus is critical for Kir7.1 channel activity at acidic pHi. In an attempt to identify residues involved in the pHi sensitivity of Kir7.1, we performed site-directed mutagenesis on potentially titratable residues of histidine, an amino acid whose side chain pKa (6.04) is closest to the optimum pHi for Kir7.1 channel activity. Six histidines—histidine 26 (H26), H180, H225, H255, H264, and H296 (Fig. 3A) —were targeted on the basis of their locations in the NH2 and COOH termini that are presumed to lie in contact with the cytoplasm and their lack of conservation among the majority of members of the Kir channel family. Point mutants with alanine substituted for histidine at position 225, 259, 264, or 296 gave rise to whole cell currents in oocytes bathed in ND96 that were similar to those of wild-type Kir7.1 in terms of amplitude, degree of rectification, and kinetics (data not illustrated). Also in common with wild-type Kir7.1, H225A, H259A, H264A, and H296A channels exhibited weak dependence of current on external K+ and roughly a 10-fold increase in inward current in the presence of high external Rb+ (Fig. 4). Thus, none of these four mutations appeared to have altered permeation properties. The amplitudes of Rb+ current associated with the H259A, H264A, and H296A channels were not significantly different from that of wild-type Kir7.1 (P > 0.05, t-test). In the case of the H225A, however, Rb+ current was significantly larger (P < 0.001, t-test), nearly twice that associated with Kir7.1. It is unclear whether this difference reflects enhanced trafficking of H225A to the plasma membrane or alterations in gating.


Figure 3
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Fig. 3. Positions of histidine residues targeted for mutational analysis. A: histidines in the NH2 and COOH termini of Kir7.1 that were individually mutated to alanine. The NH2- and COOH-terminal sequences shown are residues 19–30 and residues 174–305, respectively. Histidines that were mutated are in bold; histidines that are present in at least three other Kir subfamilies are indicated by arrowheads. B: sequence comparison of NH2 termini of Kir7.1, Kir2.1, and other Kir channels.

 
In contrast, H26A and H180A point mutations were associated with relatively small whole cell currents (Fig. 4). In H26A cRNA-injected oocytes, inward current at –150 mV averaged –0.43 ± 0.02 µA in ND96 and –3.20 ± 0.22 µA in the presence of 98 mM external Rb+ (n = 10); this compares with average inward currents of –1.74 ± 0.39 µA and –27.70 ± 3.00 µA for wild-type Kir7.1 in ND96 and 98 mM Rb+, respectively (n = 19). In addition, whole cell H26A currents in oocytes bathed in ND96 inactivated more slowly at depolarized potentials than did wild-type Kir7.1 currents (Fig. 5B). The inactivating currents were adequately fitted by a single exponential, yielding a time constant at +20 mV of 15 ± 1.8 ms for wild-type Kir7.1 (n = 7) and a significantly slower time constant (P < 0.002, t-test) of 35 ± 5.2 ms for H26A (n = 5). H26A currents also appeared to rectify less strongly (Fig. 5B), but this is likely an artifact resulting from relatively large endogenous currents. When H26 was replaced with arginine (H26R), whole cell currents were similar in amplitude to those of wild-type Kir7.1 (Fig. 4; current at –150 mV = –0.93 ± 0.25 and –21.10 ± 6.97 µA for H26R in ND96 and 98 mM Rb+, respectively; n = 9) and also exhibited similar inactivation kinetics (Fig. 5C; time constant of inactivation at +20 mV = 10.0 ± 2.9 ms; n = 4; P > 0.1, t-test). The slower inactivation in the H26A mutant suggests that the charge of the residue at this location influences the gating mechanism. Currents in H180A cRNA-injected oocytes were very small, averaging –0.27 ± 0.08 µA at –150 mV in ND96 and only –1.37 ± 0.17 µA in 98 mM Rb+ (n = 4). Because H180A currents were difficult to quantify, this mutant was not studied further.


Figure 5
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Fig. 5. Kir7.1 channel activation by mild intracellular acidification depends on histidine 26 (H26). Mutation of H26 to alanine or arginine eliminated the activation of Kir7.1 channel produced by exposing intact oocytes to 3 mM butyrate, pH 6.4. Whole cell Kir7.1 (A), H26A (B), and H26R (C) currents recorded in ND96, pH 7.4, and in ND96 plus 3 mM butyrate, pH 6.4. Currents were generated by voltage steps from a holding potential of –100 mV to potentials in the range from –150 to +50 mV in 10-mV increments. Exposure to butyrate increased both inward and outward currents of wild-type (WT) Kir7.1 channels (A) but inhibited H26A and H26R currents (B). D: effects on intracellular pH of exposing oocytes to ND96, pH 6.4, in the presence (top) or absence (bottom) of 3 mM butyrate. Intracellular pH was calculated from the difference between the signals of intracellular pH-sensitive and conventional microelectrodes. E: percent change in current at –150 mV produced by exposing oocytes expressing wild-type or mutant Kir7.1 channels to pH 6.4 butyrate solution or solution buffered to pH 6.4 (pH 6.5 for wild-type Kir7.1) with phthalate. Data represent means ± SE of 4–6 experiments.

 
To assay for altered pHi sensitivity, we compared the responses of intact oocytes expressing wild-type or mutant Kir7.1 channels to mild intracellular acidification produced by exposure to ND96 solution containing 3 mM butyrate at pH 6.4 (11). In experiments using conventional and proton-selective microelectrodes positioned just beneath the plasma membrane, we determined that the resting pHi in oocytes bathed with ND96 at pH 7.4 was 7.22 ± 0.11 (n = 9) and that switching the bath to pH 6.4 butyrate solution caused pHi to acidify to 6.77 ± 0.11 (Fig. 5D, top). The butyrate-induced changes in pHi were complete in ~10 min and reversible. In the absence of butyrate, acidification of phthalate-buffered ND96 did not alter pHi (Fig. 5D, bottom). The effect of intracellular acidification on wild-type and mutant Kir7.1 channel activities was determined by comparing currents recorded in ND96 and after 10 min of exposure to butyrate solution at pH 6.4. Exposure of oocytes expressing wild-type Kir7.1 channels to pH 6.4 butyrate solution increased both inward and outward currents (Fig. 5A); in 11 cells, the butyrate-induced increase in current at –150 mV averaged 27.5 ± 3.0% (Fig. 5E). By comparison, bath acidification to pH 6.4 in the absence of butyrate increased inward wild-type Kir7.1 current by only 16.4 ± 1.8% (n = 12; P < 0.05, t-test; Fig. 5E), indicating that a component of the butyrate-induced current activation resulted from intracellular acidification. Similar experiments were performed on the mutant channels. For the H225A, H259A, H264A, and H296A mutants, exposure to pH 6.4 butyrate solution resulted in an increase in inward current that was significantly (P < 0.05, t-test) larger than that produced by pH 6.4 phthalate solution (Fig. 5E). In contrast, when the H26A and H26R mutants were tested, intracellular acidification with pH 6.4 butyrate solution inhibited both inward and outward current (Fig. 5, B and C). The butyrate-induced decrease in inward current at –150 mV averaged –26.6 ± 3.8% for H26A and –38.5 ± 5.4% for H26R (Fig. 5E), suggesting a role for H26 in pHi-induced modulation of Kir7.1 channel activity.

Experiments with inside-out macropatches revealed that the substitution of H26 with alanine eliminated the requirement of protons for channel activation, resulting in spontaneous activity at alkaline pHi, and increased sensitivity to proton-induced inhibition. Consistent with the results obtained in whole cell recordings, the amplitude of inward Rb+ current associated with H26A channels in macropatches bathed with pHi 7.4 solution was smaller on average than that mediated by wild-type Kir7.1 channels (–486 ± 63 pA at –125 mV for H26A vs. –1,511 ± 105 pA for wild-type Kir7.1; n = 10–12; P < 0.02, t-test). Figure 6A shows the time course of changes in inward H26A current produced by switching the pH of the solution perfusing the intracellular surface of a macropatch from pHi 7.4 to various test pHi values. Although the current amplitude in this macropatch was larger than average, the responses to changes in pHi are representative of H26A. In contrast with wild-type Kir7.1 current, inward H26A current was activated by alkalinization from pHi 7.4 (Fig. 6B) and was inhibited by acidification (Fig. 6C). Similar results were obtained in six other macropatches containing H26A channels and are summarized in Fig. 6D, which plots normalized inward H26A current as a function of pHi. H26A current was saturated at about pH 8.5 and was decreased monotonically in response to acidification. The mean data were fitted to the Hill equation, which gave an apparent pKa value of 7.71 and Hill coefficient of 1.4.


Figure 6
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Fig. 6. H26A and H26R channels exhibit maximal activation at alkaline pHi and increased sensitivity to acid-induced inhibition. A: time course of inward current at –150 mV. The pH of the FVPP solution bathing the cytoplasmic face of a inside-out membrane patch containing H26A channels was switched from pHi 7.4 to the test pHi values indicated by the open boxes. The pipette solution contained 98 mM Rb+. B: effect of alkalinization to pHi 9.0 on the I-V relationship. Data are from the same patch as that in A. C: effect of acidification to pHi 6.0 on the I-V relationship. Data are from the same patch as that depicted in A and B. D: pHi sensitivity profiles of H26A and H26R channels. Current at –125 mV was measured at various test pHi values and was normalized by dividing by the current measured at pHi 7.4. Symbols represent means ± SE (n = 7–9). The solid curve represents the fit of the data to the modified Hill equation: y = 1/[1 + ([H+]/pK)h], where pK = 7.71 and h = 1.4 for H26A and pK = 7.07 and h = 1.0 for H26R. The dashed line is the best-fit curve for the for wild-type Kir7.1 steady-state current-pHi relationship shown in Fig. 2D.

 
Recordings from macropatches containing H26R channels revealed a pHi sensitivity profile that was qualitatively similar to that observed for the H26A mutant but with a shift in the pKa to more acidic pHi. The results from seven macropatches are summarized in Fig. 6D, which plots normalized inward H26R current as a function of pHi alongside the normalized current-pHi relationships for H26A and wild-type Kir7.1. The mean data were fitted to the Hill equation, which yielded a pKa value of 7.07 and Hill coefficient of 1.0. The amplitude of inward H26R current at pHi 7.4 (–881 ± 104 pA at –125 mV; n = 8) tended to be smaller than wild-type Kir7.1 current (–1,511 ± 105 pA; n = 12), but this difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.10, t-test). Thus, replacement of H26 with arginine resulted in spontaneous channel activity at alkaline pHi and increased sensitivity to proton-induced inhibition compared with wild-type Kir7.1, albeit to a lesser degree than in the H26A mutant. The results suggest that, although there is not an absolute requirement of protons for Kir7.1 channel activity, the presence of histidine at position 26 causes the channel to be inhibited at alkaline pH and, secondly, that a positive charge at this location decreases sensitivity to acid-induced inhibition.

H26 and strength of Kir7.1 channel-PIP2 interaction. Amino acid sequence comparison of the NH2 termini of Kir7.1 and other Kir channels revealed that Kir2.1 has a histidine (H53) at the position corresponding to H26 in Kir7.1 (Fig. 3B). Other investigators have shown that H53 is one of several residues that contribute to strong PIP2-channel interactions in Kir2.1 (14). Mutation of H23 to glutamine dramatically decreased the apparent binding affinity between Kir2.1 channels and membrane PIP2 (14), which stems from electrostatic interactions between positively charged residues in the channel protein and the negatively charged phosphates of PIP2. In other studies, mutation of a residue involved in PIP2 binding was found to shift the pH sensitivity of ROMK1 (Kir1.1) toward more alkaline pH (12). Because Kir7.1 channels are also gated by membrane PIP2 (18), it seemed possible that the mutation of H26 to alanine may alter sensitivity to proton-induced inhibition by modifying PIP2-channel binding affinity.

To test this possibility, we assessed the influence of pHi on PIP2-Kir7.1 affinity by measuring the rate of current rundown induced by poly-L-lysine, which competes with Kir7.1 for binding to the negatively charged phosphates of PIP2. This method has been widely used in the study of PIP2 interaction with other Kir channels and has been validated by comparison to alternative functional and biochemical approaches (4, 14, 18). The results of a representative experiment are depicted in Fig. 7A, which shows the superimposed records of inward Kir7.1 current rundown induced by exposure to poly-L-lysine (300 µg/ml) in FVPP solution titrated to pH 6.0, pH 7.4, or pH 8.0. The poly-L-lysine-induced rundown was rapid and complete within several seconds at each of the test pHi values. Similar results were obtained in seven other patches and are summarized in Fig. 7B, which shows that the half-time of poly-L-lysine-induced rundown of Kir7.1 current was similar at pH 6.0, 7.4, and 8.0. This finding indicates that the binding of Kir7.1 channels to PIP2 is not influenced by pHi. To investigate the role of H26 in PIP2-Kir7.1 channel binding affinity, we measured the rate of poly-L-lysine-induced rundown of H26A and H26R currents. These experiments were performed at pHi 8.0 to evoke maximal baseline currents before poly-L-lysine exposure. For both mutants, the half-time of rundown was not significantly different from that obtained for wild-type Kir7.1 (Fig. 7C), indicating that H26 is not involved in PIP2-Kir7.1 channel interactions.


Figure 7
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Fig. 7. Assessment of influence of pHi on strength of PIP2-channel interactions. A: time courses of poly-L-lysine-induced inhibition of inward wild-type Kir7.1 current in an inside-out macropatch bathed on the cytoplasmic side with FVPP solution at pHi 6.0, pHi 7.0, and pHi 8.0. Kir7.1 channel activity was restored following poly-L-lysine-induced inhibition by exposure to heparin (250 µg/ml). B: half-times (T50) of poly-L-lysine-induced inhibition of Kir7.1 current (n = 5–8; P > 0.9, ANOVA). C: half-times of poly-L-lysine-induced inhibition of Kir7.1, H26A, and H26R currents (n = 4–6; P > 0.17, ANOVA).

 

    DISCUSSION
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In the present study, we show that heterologously expressed human Kir7.1 channels are modulated by changes in both extracellular and intracellular pH. The main findings of this paper are as follows: 1) Kir7.1 channels are relatively insensitive to extracellular pH except at pHo < 6.0, which causes inhibition; 2) Kir7.1 channels are sensitive to intracellular pH in the physiological range, being activated by mild acidification and inhibited by strong acidification or alkalinization; and 3) histidine at position 26 in the NH2 terminus plays a central role in maintaining Kir7.1 channel activity at physiological pHi. These results also establish that the intracellular pH sensitivity of the Kir7.1 does not depend on soluble cytoplasmic factors and that it is an intrinsic property of the channel.

Effects of extracellular pH. Extracellular acidification from pHo 7.4 to pHo values in the range 7.0–6.0 elicited a modest activation of Kir7.1 current in intact oocytes, but further acidification to pHo 5.5 produced strong inhibition. These results are consistent with the idea that protons act at two separate regulatory sites on the extracellular face of the Kir7.1 channel, one with a threshold of about pHo 7.0 that triggers activation and the other with a threshold of about pHo 6.0 that causes inhibition. It could be argued that the effects of extracellular acidification may be mediated by secondary changes in intracellular pH acting on pH-sensitive regulatory sites located on the cytoplasmic face of the channel, but this possibility can be ruled out because extracellular pH was manipulated with the impermeant buffer phthalate, which recordings with pH-sensitive microelectrodes showed produced no change in intracellular pH (see Fig. 5D). Thus we conclude that the inhibition of Kir7.1 channels by extracellular acidification is likely a direct effect of external protons.

Effects of intracellular pH. The pHi dependency of other Kir channel subtypes has been investigated in intact oocytes using CO2 (26), HCO3 (3), or weak acids such as acetate (19) or butyrate (11) to acidify intracellular pH. We used the butyrate method, because this gave more reproducible results in our hands. Exposing oocytes to 3 mM butyrate at pHo 6.4 in the presence of 2 mM external K+ acidified the cytoplasm from pHi 7.2 to pHi 6.8 and produced a 28% increase in Kir7.1 current, which is significantly larger than the 16% increase produced by exposure to pHo 6.4 solution buffered with phthalate, a maneuver that did not alter pHi. Together, these results indicate that mild acidification of the cytoplasm in the physiological range activates Kir7.1 channels.

Results obtained from inside-out macropatches revealed that the pHi regulation of Kir7.1 is complex. Intracellular alkalinization from pHi 7.4 caused a relatively rapid inhibition of Kir7.1 current that was reversible. In contrast, when the cytoplasmic pH was acidified to pHi 6.0 or 5.5, Kir7.1 current underwent a transient activation followed by inhibition. The bell-shaped relationship between steady-state Kir7.1 current and pHi could be fitted by the sum of two Hill equations, suggesting that there are two components to pHi-dependent modulation of Kir7.1 channels: proton-induced activation with an apparent pKa of 8.3 and proton-induced inhibition with an apparent pKa of 6.5. This pHi-sensitivity profile is qualitatively similar to what we determined previously for the inwardly rectifying K+ channel in intact bovine RPE cells (30), a channel that molecular, immunohistochemical, and functional evidence indicates is mediated by Kir7.1 (9, 21, 29). It is also in general agreement with the data of Jiang et al. (5a), who previously reported a biphasic response of Kir7.1 channels to intracellular acidification with pKa values for proton-induced activation and inhibition of 7.7 and 6.7, respectively. Although the pKa value for acid-induced inhibition reported in the previous study is nearly identical to that obtained in the present study, the pKa value for acid-induced activation determined from our data is more alkaline. Another difference between the two studies is the degree of inhibition at strong acidic pHi: in the study of Jiang et al. (5a), Kir7.1 channels were nearly completely inhibited at pHi 6.0, whereas we observed <50% inhibition at this pHi. The reasons for these discrepancies are unclear but may be related to differences in experimental conditions.

We used Rb+ as the permeant cation in our excised-patch experiments because macroscopic Rb+ currents through Kir7.1 channels are 10-fold larger than K+ currents (21, 25). Studies by other groups have shown that the intracellular pH sensitivity of another Kir channel, ROMK1, is influenced by external monovalent cations (19, 20). Because of low-current amplitude, we were unable to study systematically Kir7.1 currents in excised patches under more physiological conditions with ND96 (2 mM K+) in the pipette. Hence, the present experiments do not allow us to specify whether the pHi sensitivity of Kir7.1 is affected by extracellular cations. It is worth noting, however, that native Kir7.1 channels in intact bovine RPE cells bathed with 5 mM K+ Ringer solution displayed a pHi sensitivity profile that was similar to that obtained with 135 mM Rb+ solution in the bath (30).

Role of H26. As a first step toward identifying the pHi sensor of Kir7.1, we individually mutated six nonconserved histidine residues in the NH2 and COOH termini to alanine and tested these mutants for functional changes in intact Xenopus oocytes. We found that the substitution of alanine for histidine at position 26 resulted in whole cell currents that were of smaller amplitude than those of wild-type Kir7.1 and that exhibited inhibition rather than activation in response to mild intracellular acidification. Measurements in inside-out macropatches showed that H26A current was a sigmoidal function of pHi, with maximal current at alkaline pHi and inhibition at acidic pHi with an apparent pKa value of about pH 7.7. Similar results were obtained with H26R channels, except in this mutant the apparent pKa value for acid-induced inhibition was shifted in the acidic direction to about pH 7.1, resulting in whole cell currents at resting pHi that were of comparable amplitude to those of wild-type Kir7.1. Thus, the replacement of histidine at position 26 with either alanine or arginine eliminated the requirement of protons for channel activation and increased sensitivity to proton-induced inhibition. This suggests that H26 plays an important role in the activity of Kir7.1 channels at neutral and mildly acidic pHi, but it is unclear whether this residue acts as a pH sensor or is a link between the pH sensor and the physical gate.

In addition to affecting proton-induced activation, H26 also appears to modulate proton-induced inhibition. The apparent pKa value for proton-induced inhibition was 7.1 for H26R and 7.7 for H26A. Thus, positive charge at position 26 seems to decrease sensitivity to inhibition by acidic pH, perhaps by influencing the environment of the pH sensor. If H26 were titratable, an intermediate pKa for proton-induced inhibition may be expected in wild-type Kir7.1 channels, but instead a more acidic value of 6.6 was obtained.

ROMK1 channels are inhibited by intracellular acidification and are dependent on direct interaction with membrane PIP2 for activation. Mutation of an arginine in the COOH terminus (A188) disrupted PIP2-ROMK1 interaction and increased the sensitivity to pHi (12). Amino acid sequence alignment of the NH2 termini of Kir7.1 and other Kir channels (Fig. 3B) revealed that Kir2.1 has a histidine (H53) at the position equivalent to H26 in Kir7.1. In a scanning-mutagenesis study of NH2 and COOH termini amino acids influencing the interaction between Kir2.1 and PIP2, Lopes et al. (14) identified H53 as one of ~12 positively charged amino acids that contribute to strong PIP2-Kir2.1 channel binding. Like other members of the Kir channel family, Kir7.1 is gated by PIP2, but PIP2-Kir7.1 channel binding affinity is weaker than it is for Kir2.1 and most other Kir channels (18). Nevertheless, we considered the possibility that H26 may contribute to PIP2-Kir7.1 interaction and that disruption of this interaction by the H26A mutation may contribute to altered pH sensitivity. Using the poly-L-lysine method to assess the strength of PIP2-channel binding, we found no evidence for an influence of pHi on the interaction of between membrane PIP2 and wild-type Kir7.1 channels. Moreover, the apparent PIP2 binding affinities of the H26A and H26R mutants did not differ from that of wild-type Kir7.1. Together, these results indicate that H26 is not involved in PIP2-Kir7.1 channel interactions and points to some other explanation for the difference in pH sensitivity between the H26A and H26R mutants.

Comparison with other pH-sensitive Kir channels. Intracellular acidification inhibits several members of the Kir channel family, including Kir1 (3, 11), Kir2.3 (17, 31), Kir4.1 (22, 28), and heteromeric Kir4.1-Kir5.1 channels (24). None of the histidine or lysine residues identified as contributing to the pH-sensing domains of these channels is conserved in Kir7.1. Superficially, the pHi sensitivity profile of Kir7.1 resembles that of Kir6 channels, which, in excised patches, exhibit activation by mild acidification and inhibition by strong acidification (7, 10). Studies on Kir6.2 (26) have shown that channel activation is the direct result of proton binding to a histidine residue (H175) that is conserved in Kir6.1 and Kir6.2 among different species but not in other members of the Kir channel family, including Kir7.1. Other histidine residues in the COOH terminus (H186, H193, and H216) were implicated in the inhibition of Kir6.2 channels at extremely low pH (27), and these, too, are absent at equivalent positions in Kir7.1. The region(s) of Kir7.1 that determine proton-induced inhibition remain to be determined.

In summary, we have characterized the extracellular and intracellular pH sensitivity of Kir7.1 and demonstrated the requirement of a histidine residue in the NH2 terminus of the channel protein for its distinct bell-shaped intracellular pH sensitivity profile. The presence of histidine at position 26 appears to be important for channel activity at physiological pHi, and its replacement with alanine or arginine results in spontaneous activity at alkaline pH and renders the channel more susceptible to inhibition by protons. The distinct pH sensitivity of Kir7.1 implies that K+ conductance in epithelia expressing this channel, such as choroid plexus and RPE, will be increased by mild acidification but inhibited by strong acidification. Because Kir7.1 channels are functionally coupled to the Na+-K+ pump, Kir7.1 channel inhibition could be an important mechanism for diminished Na+-K+-ATPase and transport function in some epithelia during ischemia, hypoxia, or hypercapnia.


    GRANTS
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 ABSTRACT
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
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This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grants EY-08850 and EY-07703 and by the Foundation Fighting Blindness. B. A. Hughes is a recipient of a Research to Prevent Blindness Lew R. Wasserman Merit Award.


    FOOTNOTES
 

Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: B. A. Hughes, Univ. of Michigan, W. K. Kellogg Eye Center, 1000 Wall St., Ann Arbor, MI 48105 (e-mail: bhughes{at}umich.edu)

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. The article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.


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B. R. Pattnaik and B. A. Hughes
Regulation of Kir channels in bovine retinal pigment epithelial cells by phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate
Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, October 1, 2009; 297(4): C1001 - C1011.
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