From the Center for Molecular Neurobiology (ZMNH), Hamburg University, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany
The chloride channel from the Torpedo electric organ, ClC-0, is the best studied member of a large
gene-family (Jentsch, T.J. 1996. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 6:303-310.). We investigate the temperature dependence of
both the voltage- and chloride-dependent fast gate and of the slow gate of the "double-barreled" ClC-0 expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Kinetics of the fast gate exhibit only a moderate temperature dependence with a Q10 of 2.2. Steady-state popen of the fast gate is relatively independent of temperature. The slow gate, in contrast, is highly temperature sensitive. Deactivation kinetics at positive voltages are associated with a Q10 of ~40. Steady-state open
probability of the slow gate (popenslow(V)) can be described by a Boltzmann distribution with an apparent gating valence of 2 and a variable "offset" at positive voltages. We note a positive correlation of this offset (i.e., the fraction of channels that are not closed by the slow gate) with the amount of expression. This offset is also highly temperature sensitive, being drastically decreased at high temperatures. Paradoxically, the maximum degree of activation of the slow gate also decreases at higher temperatures. The strong temperature dependence of the slow gate
was also observed at the single channel level in inside-out patches. The results imply that within a Markovian-type
description at least two open and two closed states are needed to describe slow gating. The strong temperature dependence of the slow gate explains the phenotype of several ClC-0 point-mutants described recently by Ludewig et
al. (Ludewig, U., T.J. Jentsch, and M. Pusch. 1996. J. Physiol. (Lond.). In press). The large Q10 of slow gating kinetics
points to a complex rearrangement. This, together with the correlation of the fraction of noninactivating channels with the amount of expression and the fact that the slow gate closes both protochannels simultaneously suggests that the slow gate is coupled to subunit interaction of the multimeric ClC-0 channel.
ClC proteins represent a large gene-family of voltage-dependent chloride channels (Jentsch et al., 1990;
Pusch and Jentsch, 1994
; Jentsch et al., 1995a
; Jentsch,
1996
). ClC channels are important for the stabilization
of membrane potential in muscle (Steinmeyer et al.,
1991a
) and probably nerve cells (Smith et al., 1995
).
The importance of the muscular ClC-1 channel (Steinmeyer et al., 1991b
) is underscored by its involvement
in recessive and dominant myotonia (Steinmeyer et al.,
1991a
; Koch et al., 1992
; Steinmeyer et al 1994; for review see Jentsch et al., 1995b
). Mutations in the recently
cloned homolog ClC-5 (Fisher et al., 1994
; Steinmeyer
et al., 1995
) are responsible for Dent's disease, a hereditary kidney stone disease with associated proteinuria and hypercalciuria (Lloyd et al., 1996).
The best characterized member of the ClC family is
the voltage-gated chloride channel from Torpedo electric organ (ClC-0, Jentsch et al., 1990). Its function in
the electric organ is to keep the membrane potential
close to the chloride equilibrium potential, similar to
the function of ClC-1 in skeletal muscle. ClC-0 serves as
a model channel for other ClC channels because it can
be easily expressed in Xenopus oocytes, and its functional characteristics, like voltage dependence and single channel conductance, can be easily measured. Results obtained for ClC-0 are valuable also for other ClC-channels as basic mechanisms of gating and conductance
are probably similar in other ClC channels.
The voltage dependence of ClC-0 is characterized by
two gates with opposite voltage dependencies. The fast
gate operates on single "protochannels" of the "double-barreled" channel (Miller, 1982; Bauer et al., 1991
)
and opens at depolarized voltages with an apparent gating-valence of ~1. Gating relaxations are in the millisecond time range. The slow gate, on the other hand,
opens at negative voltages within seconds, and, once
open, closes even more slowly at positive voltages
(Pusch et al., 1995a
; Ludewig et al., 1996a
).
The fast gating of ClC-0 is strongly dependent on extracellular chloride concentration and recent structure-function studies on ClC-0 established a gating
model for the fast gating process that is fundamentally
different from the mechanisms proposed for voltage-dependent cation channels (Pusch et al., 1995a). In
this model, the voltage dependence is conferred by the
voltage-dependent binding of the extracellular permeant anion, and not by the movement of an intrinsic
voltage sensor. The actual conformational change leading to the opening of the channel is favored if the permeant anion is bound inside the channel. This model
accounts for several findings on the fast gating of ClC-0
(Pusch et al., 1995a
).
Based on effects of internal pH on fast gating of the
muscular channel ClC-1, the closing of the channel was
proposed to be caused by a block by internal OH ions
(Rychkov et al., 1996
). In this model, voltage-dependent binding of external chloride leads to a lowering of
the binding affinity of the blocking OH
ion, and thus
to channel opening. Such a mechanism is consistent with the leftward shift of the open probability (popen(V))1-curve observed with lowered internal pH (Rychkov et
al., 1996
). An allosteric modulation by internal OH
(or H+) of a conformational transition associated with
channel opening could, however, not be completely
ruled out. Also, the experiments performed by Hanke
and Miller on the pH dependence of ClC-0 in lipid bilayers (Hanke and Miller, 1983
) argue against such a
simple blocking mechanism.
We decided to measure the temperature dependence of the fast gating process in ClC-0 in order to get more insight into its mechanism. Different temperature dependencies would be expected for a simple, possibly diffusion-limited blocking process, and an open-closed transition caused by a conformational change of the protein.
Little is known yet about the mechanism of the slow
gate. Within the double-barreled model (Miller, 1982),
the slow gate closes both protochannels simultaneously
at positive voltages. It is well established that ClC channels are multimers (Middleton et al., 1994
; Steinmeyer
et al., 1994
). Recent experiments strongly suggest a
dimeric structure for ClC-0 (Ludewig et al., 1996b
; Middleton et al., 1996
). If each protochannel of ClC-0 consists of one subunit, it is conceivable that the slow gate
is linked to subunit-interaction. Recent mutagenesis
data of ClC-0 (Ludewig et al., 1996a
) identified several
amino acids in a conserved stretch of amino acids close
to lysine 519 that drastically accelerated the closing of
the slow gate. Some mutations also led to a slowed kinetics.
Here, we measure the temperature dependence of the slow gate and find a huge temperature coefficient of the gating relaxations and a strong dependence of the fraction of channels that can be closed by the slow gate. From these data we conclude that within a simple Markovian-type description the slow gate involves at least two open and two closed states. We also find a dependence of the slow gate on the amount of expression. This, together with the large temperature dependence make it likely that the slow gate is involved in subunit interaction.
The phenotype of several point mutations that altered slow gating properties (Ludewig et al., 1996a)
find an easy explanation from our results on the temperature dependence.
Apart from being a biophysical tool, the temperature
dependence may also be of physiological or pathophysiological importance, e.g., for the muscular chloride
channel ClC-1, as cooling aggravates myotonic symptoms in some patients (Becker, 1973).
Molecular Biology and Electrophysiological Measurements
Mutations P522G and L524I have already been described
(Ludewig et al., 1996a). Briefly, two overlapping PCR products
containing both the desired mutation were generated using one
mismatch primer for each. The two PCR products were combined together with the external primers, and another PCR was
performed. The resulting fragment was cut with appropriate restriction endonucleases and ligated into the expression construct. The constructs were verified by sequencing. Mutant
P522G has a drastically accelerated deactivation of the slow gate,
whereas mutant L524I shows a more incomplete deactivation of
the slow gate at positive voltages. Capped cRNA was transcribed
in vitro using the mMessage mMachine kit (Ambion Inc., Austin
TX). Xenopus oocytes were prepared, injected, handled, and voltage-clamped with two microelectrodes as described (Pusch et al.,
1995b
). The recording solution in two-microelectrode voltage-clamp was ND96 (Pusch et al., 1995b
). Temperature was measured with a small temperature-sensitive thermoelement close to
the oocyte. It was maintained constant (±0.5°K) manually by
changing independently the perfusion rate of a room temperature (~20°C), a precooled (~1°C), and a preheated (~50°C)
ND96 solution, respectively.
Single channel experiments were performed using the inside-out configuration of the patch-clamp technique (Hamill et al., 1981) on oocytes from which the vitelline membrane had been
removed (Methfessel et al., 1986
). They were bathed in a solution containing (in mM) 100 NMDG-Cl, 2 MgCl2, 5 HEPES, 5 EGTA, pH 7.4. Pipettes were filled with a solution containing (in
mM) 95 NMDG-Cl, 5 MgCl2, 5 HEPES, pH 7.4. In the patch experiments temperature was changed using a Peltier-based bath-temperature controller (Luigs and Neumann, Ratingen, Germany) and measured as in two-microelectrode experiments.
Pulse Protocols and Data Analysis
Raw data were analyzed with home-written software and were then further processed using the SigmaPlot program (Jandel Scientific, Corte Madera, CA).
Steady-state (apparent) open probability of the fast gate
(popenfast(V)) was obtained as described earlier (Pusch et al., 1995 a). Briefly, first the slow gate was opened by a hyperpolarizing pulse. Once open it stays open for at least several seconds. Then, the fast gate was driven into steady state at various potentials. The degree of fast-activation was monitored at a constant test-pulse of
100 mV. At
100 mV fast gating relaxations are relatively slow
(
fast[
100 mV] ~ 10 ms at room temperature) such that a reliable extrapolation of the current to the onset of the test pulse is
possible. The peak currents at the constant test potentials were
normalized by the maximal value and plotted versus the conditioning voltage. The resulting popenfast was fitted by Boltzmann
dis tributions of the form popenfast( V ) = po + (1
po)/(1 + exp{zfastF [V1/2fast
V )/RT]} with an "offset" po (Ludewig et al.,
1996a
), where R is the gas constant, F is the Faraday constant, T is
the temperature (in Kelvin), V1/2fast is the voltage where the Boltzmann term is 0.5 and zfast is the apparent gating valence.
The time course of deactivating fast gating relaxations at hyperpolarized voltages was fitted with a single exponential function.
Deactivation of the slow gate was measured using a home-written slow-acquisition/stimulation program (CHART). To avoid
excessive chloride movements, deactivation of the slow gate was
measured at 30 mV, a value that is close to the reversal potential. To monitor the degree of activation of the slow gate, the potential was stepped repeatedly to +40 mV for brief periods. The
previous activation of the slow gate by stepping the potential to
120 or
140 mV for several seconds (not shown in Fig. 3)
sometimes led to a transient shift of the reversal potential due to
net chloride movement. This explains the current relaxations
seen at
30 mV in Fig. 3 A (24.6°C). This relaxation has no relationship with the slow gate.
Steady-state (apparent) open probability of the slow gate (popenslow(V)) was obtained using the pulse-protocol shown in Fig. 4 A. To compare the absolute current amplitudes at different temperatures, values were not normalized. popenslow(V) could be fitted by a Boltzmann function of the form:
![]() |
where Imax is the (extrapolated) current at +40 mV measured after maximal activation of the slow gate. fni represents the fraction of channels that are not inactivated by the slow gate at positive voltages. The other symbols have a similar meaning as above.
In patch-experiments the slow gate was monitored using the following pulse protocol. The patch was held at the desired holding potential at which the slow gate was to be studied. Every 1-3 s a brief (50 ms) pulse was given to +60 mV. At +60 mV the fast gate opens within <1 ms and therefore the average current at +60 mV reflects the number of channels with an open slow (and fast) gate. If only a few channels are present in the patch, their number can be easily counted. In addition, the brief exposures to +60 mV did not significantly change the status of the slow-gate activation because the gating-time constant at positive voltages is in the order of at least several seconds.
Temperature coefficients (Q10) and (apparent) activation enthalpies (H
) were extracted from the data using the Arrhenius
equation:
![]() |
where k is a rate constant at the temperature T, R is the gas constant, and A is a constant factor. The same equation was applied
for the analysis of time constants even if it is not strictly valid in
this case. The Q10 was calculated from H
according to Q10 = k(T + 10K )/k(T ) for T = 293°K.
Temperature Dependence of the Fast Gate in Wild-type (WT) ClC-0
As expected, closing of the fast gate is slowed at low
temperatures and accelerated at high temperatures
(Fig. 1, A and C). Relaxations are too fast to be resolved
at T > 30°C. Steady-state voltage dependence, on the
other hand, is almost independent of temperature
(Fig. 1 B). The voltage of half-maximal activation, V1/2fast,
varies by only 7 mV in the T range from 8.7-24.3 °C.
Quantitative analysis of the temperature dependence
of deactivation time constants yields an almost voltage-independent activation enthalpy of 51 kJ/mole, corresponding to a Q10 value of 2.2 (Fig. 1 C). This value is
significantly larger than a Q10 that is typical for diffusion (i.e., 1.3-1.6). Relaxations are monoexponential
at all temperatures consistent with a simple apparent
two-state system (Hanke and Miller, 1983; Pusch et al.,
1995a
).
Fast gating is slowed about twofold when extracellular chloride is partially replaced by iodide (Fig. 2 A;
compare Figs. 1 C and 2 B). This slowing could be accompanied by a changed temperature dependence of
fast gating. However, the activation enthalpy derived from the relaxations in solutions with 80 mM chloride
replaced by iodide is ~49 kJ/mole (Fig. 2 B), a value
not statistically different from that obtained in pure
chloride.
Temperature Dependence of the Deactivation of the Slow Gate
Activation-kinetics of slow gating are difficult to measure at negative voltages due to the simultaneous closure of the fast gate. Therefore, we concentrated on the
deactivation at depolarized voltages. Closing of the slow
gate at a holding potential of 30 mV can be monitored by repetitive short pulses to +40 mV (Fig. 3 A).
The time course of closing can be nicely fitted by a single exponential function with a time constant of ~300 s
at room temperature (Ludewig et al., 1996a
). This closing kinetics shows a dramatic temperature dependence
(Fig. 3, A and B). The apparent activation enthalpy is
260 kJ/mole, corresponding to a Q10 of ~40 at 20°C. Such a large temperature dependence is not easily
compatible with a simple conformational change.
Incomplete Closure of the Slow Gate at Positive Voltages
Our usual protocol to measure the steady-state activation of the slow gate is shown in Fig. 4 A. The slow gate
is progressively opened by a 7-s conditioning pulse and
the degree of activation is then measured at the +40
mV test-pulse. At this voltage the fast gate is maximally
open. The direction of the protocol (i.e., from positive
to negative voltages) is important because of the slow
deactivation time course of the slow gate (see above).
Plotting the current measured at the 40-mV test-pulse
versus the conditioning voltage for WT ClC-0 yields the
values shown as circles in Fig. 4 E. It can be seen that
the slow gate starts to activate at negative voltages. The
activation can be described by a Boltzmann fit with a
V1/2 ~ 80 mV. Another important aspect is that the
slow gate apparently does not deactivate completely at
positive voltages, leading to an offset of popenslow(V) at positive voltages. This offset is clearly due to heterologously expressed ClC-0 channels. Noninjected oocytes
had consistently smaller currents (Fig. 4 C). Additionally,
outward currents through ClC-0 channels can be almost
completely blocked by applying extracellular iodide, in
contrast to endogenous oocyte currents (data not shown). This allowed a clear distinction between endogenous
currents and currents through ClC-0 channels.
An important question is whether or not the offset is
artifactually introduced because the conditioning pulse
of the protocol (Fig. 4 A) is too short to drive the slow
gate into steady state. To test for this possibility we applied the pulse protocol with much longer conditioning pulses (84 s) on the same oocyte (Fig. 4 D). The resulting popen is shown in Fig. 4 E as squares. The form of
the popen(V) is slightly different from the experiment obtained from the shorter prepulses. This could be due
to unspecific drifts or slow changes in the local chloride
concentrations during the extremely long pulses. Most
importantly, however, it is clear that the slow gate does
not deactivate further at positive voltages. Additional
evidence for the presence of such an offset is shown in
the continuous recording from the same oocyte (Fig. 4
F). After activating the slow gate at 120 mV (not
shown) deactivation was first monitored at a holding
potential of
30 mV. After reaching steady state, the
holding potential was switched to 0 mV. This does,
however, not lead to a further deactivation. Now, after a brief activation of the slow gate by switching to Vhold
to
120 mV, deactivation at Vhold = 0 mV is only
slightly slower (
= 108 s) than at Vhold =
30 mV (
= 77 s). Then, switching again to Vhold =
30 mV does
not lead to an activation. Thus, from these experiments
we can conclude that the slow gate does not fully close
at positive potentials. A certain fraction of channels is not inactivated even at depolarized potentials.
Correlation of the Fraction of Noninactivating Channels with the Expression Level
In the course of this study we noted a certain variability
of the fraction of noninactivating channels from oocyte
to oocyte, with the tendency of a larger offset with
higher degrees of expression. To study this systematically we measured several oocytes from the same batch
that had been injected with various amounts of RNA.
Temperature was kept constant at 22.5°C. The results
are shown in Fig. 5. It can be seen that the offset correlates positively with the amount of expression of ClC-0
channels in the oocyte. With increasing expression the
offset increases from ~15 to ~50% for the maximally
expressing oocytes.
Temperature Dependence of the Steady-state Open Probability of the Slow Gate
To measure the temperature dependence of the steady
state activation of the slow gate we used the protocol
shown in Fig. 4 A to avoid the technical difficulties associated with the extremely long prepulses that are necessary to get a real steady state at positive voltages. As shown
above, the steady state is saturated at voltages >30
mV, and the current does not deactivate further. The
time constants at more negative voltages are small
enough to get a reasonable estimate of the steady state
using the short pulse-protocol. The popenslow(V) thus obtained (Fig. 6 B) can be fitted by a Boltzmann distribution with a variable offset (see MATERIALS AND METHODS). Temperature strongly affects this fraction on
noninactivating channels. Increasing the temperature,
leads to a decrease of the offset component to <14% at
37°C (Fig. 6 B). On the other hand, the maximal current obtained after stimulation of the slow gate at
140
mV also decreases in a paradoxical fashion above 30°C
(Fig. 6, A and B), even though single channel current
increases at higher temperatures (see below). Thus,
high temperature leads to a more complete inactivation of channels at more positive voltages and to a decrease in the fraction of channels that can be activated
by the slow gate at negative voltages. The mid-voltage of
half-maximal activation, V1/2slow, is relatively independent
of temperature (see legend to Fig. 6 B).
The decrease of currents at higher temperature is
clearly an effect on slow gating (as opposed to effects
on fast gating or on single channel amplitude) as is best
illustrated in the continuous recording shown in Fig. 7
(temperature-clamp). It can be seen that at the constant holding potential of 30 mV a quick increase of
temperature from 23 to 33°C (left arrow, Fig. 7) first
leads to an immediate slight increase of the current.
This is probably due to the instantaneous effect on the
single channel amplitude (see below). Afterwards, at
constant temperature of 33°C, the current decreases
with a time constant of ~40 s to a new steady-state value. Similarly, now a decrease of temperature to 25°C
leads to an instantaneous decrease of current (right arrow, Fig. 7) and a much slower increase of the current
with a time constant of 200 s.
Single Channel Analysis of Temperature Effects on Slow Gating
The macroscopic measurements of the slow gate leave
some uncertainties because effects of temperature on
the single channel current amplitude are not controlled and because no absolute but only relative open
probabilities can be assessed. Therefore we sought to
measure the effect of temperature on the slow gate at the single channel level. Fig. 8, A and B, show continuous recordings of inside-out patches containing only a
few channels at a holding potential of 140 mV (Fig. 8
A) and of 0 mV (Fig. 8 B). The upper traces show the
current measured during brief pulses to +60 mV. The
brief pulses to a positive voltage do not change significantly the state of the slow gate (see above). Because
the fast gate of both protochannels is almost completely open at +60 mV, the current at this voltage reflects the number of channels with an open slow gate.
This number can be directly counted for the experiments shown in Fig. 8, A and B, and the result is shown
in the middle traces. The temperature was changed
during the experiment as shown in the lower traces. It
can be clearly seen that at
140 mV (Fig. 8 A) at the
lower temperatures (<18°C) two channels are almost constantly open. Assuming a total number of two channels in the patch, the open probability at T < 18°C is
popenslow = 0.97. Increasing the temperature leads to an increase of the single channel current (upper trace). But,
most importantly, the frequency of closures of the slow
gate increases dramatically leading to a steady-state
value of popenslow of 0.82 at 24 °C. The results are similar at a
holding potential of 0 mV (Fig. 8 B), although the experiments are more difficult to perform because the
gating transitions of the slow gate are extremely slow at
0 mV and temperatures below 20°C (see above). The
qualitative effect of an increase in popenslow during cooling
is, however, clearly visible.
From these experiments the dependence of the single channel current amplitude on temperature can also
be measured. Fig. 9 shows the dependence for the current at 140 mV (squares) and the current at +60 mV
(circles). As expected, single channel current increases
with increasing temperature. The solid lines correspond to a Q10 of ~1.4, even though the dependence
cannot be well described by the Arrhenius equation.
The shallow temperature dependence is, however, consistent with a diffusion process.
A Markov Type Model of the Slow Gate Requires at least Four States
The temperature dependence of popenslow(V) cannot be
explained by a simple two state mechanism with standard voltage-dependent rate constants. Also, more than
one open state is needed to explain the temperature
dependent offset of steady-state popenslow(V) (see DISCUSSION). A minimal model consisting of four states that is
able to describe the temperature and voltage dependence of the slow gate is illustrated in Fig. 10 E. Two
open states and two closed states are connected among
each other by voltage-dependent rates. The temperature-dependent step connects open and closed states.
This arrangement of states leads to a saturation of
popenslow(V) at extreme positive or negative voltages at values different from 0 or 1, respectively. These saturating
values of popenslow are modulated by the temperature dependent steps.
Mutants with Altered Slow Gate
Several ClC-0 mutants with altered properties of the
slow gate have been described recently (Ludewig et al.,
1996 a). Some of the mutants showed an acceleration of
deactivation, whereas others were characterized by an
increased fraction of noninactivating current. As shown
above, these phenotypes resemble WT behavior at increased or decreased temperature, respectively. Therefore, we sought to analyze the temperature dependence of the slow gate of some of the mutations. P522G
shows a drastically accelerated and more complete deactivation of the slow gate, whereas L524I, in contrast,
showed incomplete deactivation (Ludewig et al., 1996a; Fig. 11 B). Fig. 11 A illustrates that the phenotype of
mutant P522G can be made similar to WT by cooling
the oocyte by some degrees. By analogy, the fraction of
noninactivating channels can be reduced for mutant
L524I by heating such that steady-state popenslow looks similar to that of WT (Fig. 11 B).
These results are qualitatively understandable within the framework of the slow gate model described above. The main effect of the mutants is a relatively small change of the activation enthalpy of the conformational transitions and of the enthalpic contribution of the Gibb's free energy of the various states.
We analyzed the temperature dependence of fast and slow gating of the Torpedo chloride channel ClC-0 and two of its mutants. Fast gating kinetics show a moderate temperature dependence characterized by an activation enthalpy of 51 kJ/mole, corresponding to a Q10 of 2.2. This value was not changed when currents were measured under conditions where 80 mM extracellular chloride were replaced by iodide despite a slowed deactivation under these conditions.
Steady-state voltage dependence (popenfast(V)) was only slightly dependent on temperature. This would imply that opening and closing transitions have, more or less, the same temperature dependence. Thus, neither the open state nor the closed state seem to have a more ordered structure. More detailed measurements are, however, necessary to firmly establish such a conclusion.
If a simple diffusion-limited blocking mechanism
(e.g., by intracellular OH ) were responsible for fast
gating, a Q10 of ~1.3-1.6, a value characteristic for diffusion, could be expected, at least for the on-rate of the
block. Based on the observed value of Q10 = 2.2 it is not
possible to rule out completely a blocking mechanism for the closing of the channel. A "true" conformational
change is postulated within the simple gating model of
Pusch et al. (1995a)
in which intrinsic voltage-independent conformational changes are linked to external
chloride concentration and transmembrane voltage by
voltage-dependent binding of chloride within the channel pore.
In contrast to the fast gate, kinetics of slow gating is
extremely temperature sensitive. The temperature dependence of WT deactivation kinetics is characterized
by an apparent activation enthalpy of 260 kJ/mol, corresponding to a Q10 of ~40. We are not aware of any
other biological process with a similarly large temperature dependence of kinetics. However, in a recent study, Ebihara (1996) found a high temperature sensitivity
(Q10 ~ 20) of the magnitude of currents in Xenopus oocytes that are due to hemi-gap-junctional channels. The
high Q10 was related to the assembly of connexins to a
functional hemi-gap-junction. In our case, the high Q10
of 40 of the kinetics of the slow gate suggests that in order to move from an open slow gate to a closed slow gate the channel has to undergo a complex rearrangement; that is, some transition state has to differ greatly
in its structure from either "ground" state. Also, steady-state voltage dependence of the slow gate (popenslow) is dependent on temperature in a characteristic way: Whereas the voltage of half maximal activation (V1/2slow) is relatively insensitive, the degree of maximal activation, but
also the degree of minimal activation ("offset") is decreased by increasing temperature (Fig. 6). In addition,
we noticed a correlation of the degree of minimal activation with the amount of ClC-0 expression (Fig. 5).
The effects of temperature on the slow gate were confirmed at the single channel level. In addition, the patch
experiments allow a quantitative measure of the open probability. They show that popenslow approaches unity at
negative voltages and low temperatures.
The properties of the slow gate can be qualitatively
described by the model shown in Fig. 10 E. For the following reasons at least four different states have to be
postulated. If at least one voltage-dependent step is assumed with exponential voltage dependence, one has
to postulate the existence of at least two open states.
Otherwise, at some extreme voltage, all channels would
have to be either fully closed or fully open, independent of temperature (as in the models shown in Fig. 10,
A, B, and D). In contrast to this, we observe a temperature-dependent maximal and minimal activation of the
slow gate. The same argument holds for any closed
state (i.e., Fig. 10 C). Thus, the minimal model capable
of describing the properties of the slow gate contains two open and two closed states. The scheme shown in
Fig. 10 E represents one possible arrangement of two
open and two closed states. Assuming only four states
and exponential voltage dependence of rate constants, several features of the model can be deduced from the
data. First, the main voltage dependence cannot be associated with C1 O1 and C2
O2 transitions, because this would drive the slow gate fully open or fully
closed at extreme voltages. This leads to the assignment
of the voltage-dependence to the transitions C1
C2
and O1
O2. Second, the main (steady-state) temperature dependence has to be assigned to the transitions
C1
O1 and C2
O2. This can be concluded from the
observation that, at (for example) positive voltages,
where the channels are almost exclusively in states C1
and O1, increasing the temperature leads to a decrease in steady-state open probability. The same holds true
for very negative voltages, where channels are predominantly in states C2 and O2. Third, the relative insensitivity of the "half-maximal voltage," V1/2slow, to temperature
implies that the voltage-dependent steps are not
strongly temperature sensitive (in the steady state).
On the other hand, it cannot be decided from the data which transitions are rate limiting and are associated with the high activation barrier that leads to the high Q 10 of 40. However, because the enthalpy difference between two states is given by the difference of the activation enthalpy of the forward transition and the backward transition, we think that it is more likely that higher activation enthalpies are associated with the transitions between states which have a larger enthalpy difference. Thus we speculate that the rate-limiting transitions in the scheme of Fig. 10 E are the ones connecting open and closed states. This assumption has to be tested, however, in future experiments.
Several point mutations of ClC-0 that had been described by Ludewig et al. (1996a) drastically accelerated deactivation of the slow gate (e.g., L521I, P522G).
In addition, for some of the mutations, the characteristics of the slow gate were difficult to measure, because
of an increased offset in the steady-state popenslow (e.g.,
L524I, P525G). These large effects are clearly related to
the strong temperature dependence of the slow gate.
As shown by our measurements, the fast decaying mutant P522G is, at room temperature, very similar to WT
that has been heated by some degrees.
A double-barreled model has been proposed for ClC-0
channels (Miller, 1982; Miller and White, 1984
). Two
identical protochannels gate independently from each
other in a voltage-and anion-concentration-dependent manner (fast gate). Both protochannels are closed simultaneously by the common slow gate. The very large
temperature dependence of slow gating kinetics and
the dependence of the fraction of noninactivating
channels on the amount of expressed currents are, in a
vague way, compatible with an involvement of the slow
gate in subunit interaction. From coexpression experiments with dominant negative mutations Steinmeyer et
al. (1994)
concluded that the homologous chloride
channel ClC-1 is a functional homomer with more than
three, possibly four subunits. In contrast to this, Middleton et al. (1994)
concluded from their sucrose gradient experiments that ClC-0 is probably a dimer. Also,
recent functional analysis of dimeric ClC-0 constructs
(Ludewig et al., 1996b
) and coexpression studies (Middleton et al., 1996
) point to a dimeric structure of ClC-0
with one subunit forming a single protopore. With a
point mutation that abolished the voltage dependence
of slow gating (S123T), Ludewig et al. (1996b)
also
demonstrated that slow gating of ClC-0 is a function of
both subunits. Also chimerae in the COOH-terminal
part change slow gating suggesting a role of this part of
the protein in the slow gating mechanism (Fong and
Jentsch, 1996
). Definitely, more experiments are needed to establish the precise relation of the subunit composition to the double-barreled model and to the slow gate.
In summary, temperature has only mild effects on fast gating (Q10 = 2.2), compatible with a structurally very simple conformational change, whereas slow gating shows a very strong temperature dependence (Q10 ~ 40), pointing to a very complex structural rearrangement connected with this gate. In addition, the temperature dependence of popenslow(V) clearly shows that the slow gate has to be described by at least two open and two closed states.
Original version received 3 July 1996 and accepted version received 27 September 1996.
Address correspondence to Michael Pusch, Center for Molecular Neurobiology (ZMNH), Hamburg University, Martinistrasse 52, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany. Fax: 49-40-4717-4839; E-mail: pusch{at}uke.uni-hamburg.de
1 Abbreviations used in this paper: popen, open probability; Q10, temperature coefficient; WT, wild type.We thank Christine Neff for expert technical assistance.
This work was supported by grants of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.