Background: Ion selectivity of voltage-gated channels is governed by selectivity filters. Results: Alternative turret region in domain II promotes highly sodium-permeable T-type channels without major changes to gating and kinetic features. Conclusion: T-type channels can generate variable sodium or calcium permeability by gene splicing. Significance: Ion selectivity in T-type channels can be altered using extracellular domains outside the ion selectivity filter.

We report here that unlike what was suggested for many vertebrate neurons, synaptic transmission in Lymnaea stagnalis occurs independent of a physical interaction between presynaptic calcium channels and a functional complement of SNARE proteins. Instead, synaptic transmission in Lymnaea requires the expression of a C-terminal splice variant of the Lymnaea homolog to mammalian N- and P/Q-type calcium channels. We show that the alternately spliced region physically interacts with the scaffolding proteins Mint1 and CASK, and that synaptic transmission is abolished following RNA interference knockdown of CASK or after the injection of peptide sequences designed to disrupt the calcium channel-Mint1 interactions. Our data suggest that Mint1 and CASK may serve to localize the non-L-type channels at the active zone and that synaptic transmission in invertebrate neurons utilizes a mechanism for optimizing calcium entry, which occurs independently of a physical association between calcium channels and SNARE proteins.

NALCN is a member of the family of ion channels with four homologous, repeat domains that include voltage-gated calcium and sodium channels. NALCN is a highly conserved gene from simple, extant multicellular organisms without nervous systems such as sponges and placozoans and mostly remains a single gene compared to the calcium and sodium channels which diversified into twenty genes in humans. The single NALCN gene has alternatively-spliced exons at exons 15 or exon 31 that splices in novel selectivity filter residues that resemble calcium channels (EEEE) or sodium channels (EKEE or EEKE). NALCN channels with alternative calcium, (EEEE) and sodium, (EKEE or EEKE) -selective pores are conserved in simple bilaterally symmetrical animals like flatworms to non-chordate deuterostomes. The single NALCN gene is limited as a sodium channel with a lysine (K)-containing pore in vertebrates, but originally NALCN was a calcium-like channel, and evolved to operate as both a calcium channel and sodium channel for different roles in many invertebrates. Expression patterns of NALCN-EKEE in pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis suggest roles for NALCN in secretion, with an abundant expression in brain, and an up-regulation in secretory organs of sexually-mature adults such as albumen gland and prostate. NALCN-EEEE is equally abundant as NALCN-EKEE in snails, but is greater expressed in heart and other muscle tissue, and 50% less expressed in the brain than NALCN-EKEE. Transfected snail NALCN-EEEE and NALCN-EKEE channel isoforms express in HEK-293T cells. We were not able to distinguish potential NALCN currents from background, non-selective leak conductances in HEK293T cells. Native leak currents without expressing NALCN genes in HEK-293T cells are NMDG+ impermeant and blockable with 10 µM Gd3+ ions and are indistinguishable from the hallmark currents ascribed to mammalian NALCN currents expressed in vitro by Lu et al. in Cell. 2007 Apr 20;129(2):371-83.

The Conus magus peptide toxin -conotoxin MVIIA is considered an irreversible, specific blocker of N-type calcium channels, and is now in clinical trials as an intrathecal analgesic. Here, we have examined the action of MVIIA on mutant and wild type calcium channels transiently expressed in tsA-201 cells. Although we have shown previously that mutations in a putative external EF-hand motif in the domain IIIS5-H5 region alters block by both -conotoxin GVIA and MVIIA (Feng, Z. P., Hamid, J., Doering, C., Bosey, G. M., Snutch, T. P., and Zamponi, G. W. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276, 15728 -15735), the introduction of five point mutations known to affect GVIA blocking (and located downstream of the EFhand) affected MVIIA block to a smaller degree compared with GVIA. These data suggest that despite some overlap, MVIIA and GVIA block does not share identical channel structural determinants. At higher concentrations (ϳ3 M), MVIIA reversibly blocked L-, P/Q-, and R-type, but not T-type channels, indicating that the overall architecture of the MVIIA site is conserved in all types of high voltage-activated calcium channels. A kinetic analysis of the MVIIA effects on the N-type channel showed that MVIIA blocked resting, open, and inactivated channels. Although the development of MVIIA block did not appear to be voltage-, nor frequency-dependent, the degree of recovery from block strongly depended on the potential applied during washout. Interestingly, the degree of washout was highly variable and appeared to weakly depend on the holding potential applied during toxin application. We propose a model in which N-type calcium channels can form both reversible and irreversible complexes with MVIIA.A number of predatory species such as spiders, scorpions, and fish hunting mollusks have developed venoms to rapidly stun and kill their prey. Their venoms typically contain a mixture of potent peptide toxins that have evolved to specifically bind to voltage-and ligand-gated ion channels (1). Among calcium channel blocking peptides, -conotoxin GVIA (isolated from Conus geographus) and -conotoxin MVIIA (isolated from Conus magus) are perhaps the most widely known. Both of these toxins are thought to specifically block the pore of N-type calcium channels from a variety of species. Block by both toxins is considered to be virtually irreversible at normal membrane potentials (i.e. Refs. 2 and 3), but complete reversibility can be obtained upon strong hyperpolarization (4), or by removal of extracellular divalent carrier ions (5). Our current understanding of the molecular basis of N-type channel block came initially from a study by Ellinor et al. (6) who showed that block of transiently expressed N-type channels by -conotoxin GVIA was dramatically attenuated by sequence substitution in the domain III S5-S6 region of the Ca v 2.2 ␣ 1 subunit. More recently, Feng et al. (7) showed that additional point mutations in an EF-hand consensus motif in this region affected the development of, and recovery from, block by both GVIA and MVIIA, consistent...