Cholesterol down-regulates BK channels stably expressed in HEK 293 cells.

ABSTRACT: Cholesterol is one of the major lipid components of the plasma membrane in mammalian cells and is involved in the regulation of a number of ion channels. The present study investigates how large conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) (BK) channels are regulated by membrane cholesterol in BK-HEK 293 cells expressing both the ?-subunit hKCa1.1 and the auxiliary ?1-subunit or in hKCa1.1-HEK 293 cells expressing only the ?-subunit hKCa1.1 using approaches of electrophysiology, molecular biology, and immunocytochemistry. Membrane cholesterol was depleted in these cells with methyl-?-cyclodextrin (M?CD), and enriched with cholesterol-saturated M?CD (M?CD-cholesterol) or low-density lipoprotein (LDL). We found that BK current density was decreased by cholesterol enrichment in BK-HEK 293 cells, with a reduced expression of KCa1.1 protein, but not the ?1-subunit protein. This effect was fully countered by the proteasome inhibitor lactacystin or the lysosome function inhibitor bafilomycin A1. Interestingly, in hKCa1.1-HEK 293 cells, the current density was not affected by cholesterol enrichment, but directly decreased by M?CD, suggesting that the down-regulation of BK channels by cholesterol depends on the auxiliary ?1-subunit. The reduced KCa1.1 channel protein expression was also observed in cultured human coronary artery smooth muscle cells with cholesterol enrichment using M?CD-cholesterol or LDL. These results demonstrate the novel information that cholesterol down-regulates BK channels by reducing KCa1.1 protein expression via increasing the channel protein degradation, and the effect is dependent on the auxiliary ?1-subunit.

SUBMITTER: Wu W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3832390 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature