Voltage-gated L-type Ca2+ channels (LTCCs) containing a pore-forming alpha1D subunit (D-LTCCs) are expressed in neurons and neuroendocrine cells. Their relative contribution to total L-type Ca2+ currents and their physiological role and significance as a drug target remain unknown. Therefore, we generated D-LTCC deficient mice (alpha1D-/-) that were viable with no major disturbances of glucose metabolism. alpha1D-/-mice were deaf due to the complete absence of L-type currents in cochlear inner hair cells and degeneration of outer and inner hair cells. In wild-type controls, D-LTCC-mediated currents showed low activation thresholds and slow inactivation kinetics. Electrocardiogram recordings revealed sinoatrial node dysfunction (bradycardia and arrhythmia) in alpha1D-/- mice. We conclude that alpha1D can form LTCCs with negative activation thresholds essential for normal auditory function and control of cardiac pacemaker activity.

The spontaneous activity of pacemaker cells in the sino-atrial node (SAN) controls the heart rhythm and rate under physiological conditions. Pacemaker activity in SAN cells is due to the presence of the diastolic depolarization, a slow depolarization phase that drives the membrane voltage from the end of an action potential to the threshold of a new action potential. SAN cells express a wide array of ionic channels, but we have limited knowledge about their functional role in pacemaker activity and we still do not know which channels play a prominent role in the generation of the diastolic depolarization. It is thus important to provide genetic evidence linking the activity of genes coding for ionic channels to specific alterations of pacemaker activity of SAN cells. Here, we show that target inactivation of the gene coding for ␣1D (Cav1.3) Ca 2؉ channels in the mouse not only significantly slows pacemaker activity but also promotes spontaneous arrhythmia in SAN pacemaker cells. These alterations of pacemaker activity are linked to abolition of the major component of the L-type current (I Ca,L) activating at negative voltages. Pharmacological analysis of I Ca,L demonstrates that Cav1.3 gene inactivation specifically abolishes I Ca,L in the voltage range corresponding to the diastolic depolarization. Taken together, our data demonstrate that Ca v1.3 channels play a major role in the generation of cardiac pacemaker activity by contributing to diastolic depolarization in SAN pacemaker cells.

The association of L-type Ca(2+) channels to the secretory granules and its functional significance to secretion was investigated in mouse pancreatic B cells. Nonstationary fluctuation analysis showed that the B cell is equipped with <500 alpha1(C) L-type Ca(2+) channels, corresponding to a Ca(2+) channel density of 0.9 channels per microm(2). Analysis of the kinetics of exocytosis during voltage-clamp depolarizations revealed an early component that reached a peak rate of 1.1 pFs(-1) (approximately 650 granules/s) 25 ms after onset of the pulse and is completed within approximately 100 ms. This component represents a subset of approximately 60 granules situated in the immediate vicinity of the L-type Ca(2+) channels, corresponding to approximately 10% of the readily releasable pool of granules. Experiments involving photorelease of caged Ca(2+) revealed that the rate of exocytosis was half-maximal at a cytoplasmic Ca(2+) concentration of 17 microM, and concentrations >25 microM are required to attain the rate of exocytosis observed during voltage-clamp depolarizations. The rapid component of exocytosis was not affected by inclusion of millimolar concentrations of the Ca(2+) buffer EGTA but abolished by addition of exogenous L(C753-893), the 140 amino acids of the cytoplasmic loop connecting the 2(nd) and 3(rd) transmembrane region of the alpha1(C) L-type Ca(2+) channel, which has been proposed to tether the Ca(2+) channels to the secretory granules. In keeping with the idea that secretion is determined by Ca(2+) influx through individual Ca(2+) channels, exocytosis triggered by brief (15 ms) depolarizations was enhanced 2.5-fold by the Ca(2+) channel agonist BayK8644 and 3.5-fold by elevating extracellular Ca(2+) from 2.6 to 10 mM. Recordings of single Ca(2+) channel activity revealed that patches predominantly contained no channels or many active channels. We propose that several Ca(2+) channels associate with a single granule thus forming a functional unit. This arrangement is important in a cell with few Ca(2+) channels as it ensures maximum usage of the Ca(2+) entering the cell while minimizing the influence of stochastic variations of the Ca(2+) channel activity.

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Outer hair cells (OHC) serve as electromechanical amplifiers that guarantee the unique sensitivity and frequency selectivity of the mammalian cochlea. It is unknown whether the afferent fibres connected to adult OHCs are functional. If so, voltage‐activated Ca2+ channels would be required for afferent synaptic transmission. In neonatal OHCs, Ca2+ channels seem to play a role in maturation since OHCs from Cav1.3‐deficient (Cav1.3−/−) mice degenerate shortly after the onset of hearing. We therefore studied whole‐cell Ca2+ currents in outer hair cells aged between postnatal day 1 (P1) and P8. OHCs showed a rapidly activating inward current that was 1.8 times larger with 10 mm Ba2+ as charge carrier (IBa) than with equimolar Ca2+ (ICa). IBa started activating at −50 mV with Vmax=−1.9 ± 6.9 mV, V0.5=−15.0 ± 7.1 mV and k= 8.2± 1.1 mV (n= 34). The peak IBa showed negligible inactivation (3.6 % after 300 ms) whereas the ICa (10 mm Ca2+) was inactivated by 50.7 %. OHC IBa was reduced by 33.5 ± 10.3 % (n= 14) with 10 μm nifedipine and increased to 178.5 ± 57.8 % (n= 14) by 5 μm Bay K 8644. A dose‐response curve for nifedipine revealed an IC50 of 2.3 μm, a Hill coefficient of 2.7 and a maximum block of 36 %. Average IBa density in OHCs was 24.4 ± 10.8 pA pF−1 (n= 105) which is only 38 % of the value in inner hair cells. Single cell RT‐PCR revealed expression of Cav1.3 in OHCs. In OHCs from Cav1.3−/− mice, Ba2+ current density was reduced to 0.6 ± 0.5 pA pF−1 (n= 9) indicating that > 97 % of the Ca2+ channel current in OHCs flows through Cav1.3.