Article,

Sodium-calcium exchange does not require allosteric calcium activation at high cytosolic sodium concentrations.

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J. Physiol., 575 (Pt 3): 693--705 (September 2006)
DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2006.113910

Abstract

The activity of the cardiac Na$^+$-Ca$^2+$ exchanger (NCX1.1) is allosterically regulated by Ca$^2+$, which binds to two acidic regions in the cytosolically disposed central hydrophilic domain of the NCX protein. A mutation in one of the regulatory Ca$^2+$ binding regions (D447V) increases the half-activation constant (K(h)) for allosteric Ca$^2+$ activation from approximately 0.3 to > 1.8 microm. Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing the D447V exchanger showed little or no activity under physiological ionic conditions unless cytosolic Ca$^2+$ was elevated to > 1 microm. However, when cytosolic Na$^+$ was increased to 20 mm or more (using ouabain-induced inhibition of the Na$^+$,K$^+$-ATPase or the ionophore gramicidin), cells expressing the D447V mutant rapidly accumulated Ca$^2+$ or Ba$^2+$ when the reverse (Ca$^2+$ influx) mode of NCX activity was initiated, although initial cytosolic Ca$^2+$ was < 100 nm. Importantly, the time course of Ca$^2+$ uptake did not display the lag phase that reflects allosteric Ca$^2+$ activation of NCX activity in the wild-type NCX1.1; indeed, at elevated Na$^+$, the D447V mutant behaved similarly to the constitutively active deletion mutant Delta(241-680), which lacks the regulatory Ca$^2+$ binding sites. In cells expressing wild-type NCX1.1, increasing concentrations of cytosolic Na$^+$ led to a progressive shortening of the lag phase for Ca$^2+$ uptake. The effects of elevated Na$^+$ developed rapidly and were fully reversible. The activity of the D447V mutant was markedly inhibited when phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) levels were reduced. We conclude that when PIP2 levels are high, elevated cytosolic Na$^+$ induces a mode of exchange activity that does not require allosteric Ca$^2+$ activation.

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