Background:The Na,K-ATPase ␣2 isozyme is the major Na,K-ATPase of skeletal muscles. Results: Its targeted knockout in mouse skeletal muscle impairs contractility and fatigability without change in resting muscle function. Conclusion:The ␣2 isozyme is regulated by muscle use and enables working skeletal muscles to maintain contraction and resist fatigue. Significance: The Na,K-ATPase ␣2 isozyme is vital to muscle and movement.

The interaction operates at the neuromuscular junction as well as on extrajunctional sarcolemma. The Na,K-ATPase ␣2 isozyme is enriched at the postsynaptic neuromuscular junction and co-localizes with nAChRs. The nAChR and Na,K-ATPase ␣ subunits specifically coimmunoprecipitate with each other, phospholemman, and caveolin-3. In a purified membrane preparation from Torpedo californica enriched in nAChRs and the Na,K-ATPase, a ouabain-induced conformational change of the Na,K-ATPase enhances a conformational transition of the nAChR to a desensitized state. These results suggest a mechanism by which the nAChR in a desensitized state with high apparent affinity for agonist interacts with the Na,K-ATPase to stimulate active transport. The interaction utilizes a membranedelimited complex involving protein-protein interactions, either directly or through additional protein partners. This interaction is expected to enhance neuromuscular transmission and muscle excitation. The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR)2 and the Na,K-ATPase are integral membrane proteins that play key roles in membrane excitation. We previously identified a regulatory mechanism, termed acetylcholine (ACh)-induced hyperpolarization, whereby the nAChR and the Na,K-ATPase functionally interact to modulate the membrane potential of rat skeletal muscle (1-4). In this interaction, the binding of nanomolar concentrations of ACh to the nAChR stimulates electrogenic transport by the Na,K-ATPase ␣2 isozyme, causing a membrane hyperpolarization of about Ϫ4 mV. This effect requires prolonged exposure to nanomolar concentrations of nicotinic agonist. This property distinguishes it from the more well characterized, rapid action of micromolar concentrations of ACh, which open the nAChR and produce membrane depolarization (5). This finding suggested that a non-conducting conformation of the nAChR, rather than the open state, is involved in signaling to the Na,K-ATPase. In addition, it was shown that the nAChR and Na,K-ATPase can reciprocally interact in a membrane preparation from the Torpedo electric organ (1), a muscle-derived tissue that is rich in muscle nAChRs and Na,K-ATPase. This finding suggested that the nAChR and Na,K-ATPase may interact as part of a membrane-associated regulatory complex.Importantly, this regulation of Na,K-ATPase activity by the nAChR operates under the physiological conditions of normal muscle use. Its ACh concentration dependence is in the range of the residual ACh concentrations that remain in the muscle interstitial spaces for some time following nerve excitation, and to the ACh concentrations that arise at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) from non-quantal ACh release. The later have also been shown to activate the Na,K-ATPase and hyperpolarize the end plate membrane (6, 7). Notably, this hyperpolariza-* This work was supported, in whole or in part, by National Institutes of Health

The physiological significance of the cardiac glycoside-binding site on the Na,K-ATPase remains incompletely understood. This study used a gene-targeted mouse (␣2 R/R ) which expresses a ouabaininsensitive ␣2 isoform of the Na,K-ATPase to investigate whether the cardiac glycoside-binding site plays any physiological role in active Na ؉ /K ؉ transport in skeletal muscles or in exercise performance. Skeletal muscles express the Na,K-ATPase ␣2 isoform at high abundance and regulate its transport over a wide dynamic range under control of muscle activity. Na,K-ATPase active transport in the isolated extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle of ␣2 R/R mice was lower at rest and significantly enhanced after muscle contraction, compared with WT. During the first 60 s after a 30-s contraction, the EDL of ␣2 R/R mice transported 70.0 nmol/ g⅐min more 86 Rb than WT. Acute sequestration of endogenous ligand(s) in WT mice infused with Digibind to sequester endogenous cardiac glycoside(s) produced similar effects on both resting and contraction-induced 86 Rb transport. Additionally, the ␣2 R/R mice exhibit an enhanced ability to perform physical exercise, showing a 2.1-to 2.8-fold lower failure rate than WT within minutes of the onset of moderate-intensity treadmill running. Their enhanced exercise performance is consistent with their enhanced contraction-induced Na,K-ATPase transport in the skeletal muscles. These results demonstrate that the Na,K-ATPase ␣2 isozyme in skeletal muscle is regulated dynamically by a mechanism that utilizes the cardiac glycoside-binding site and an endogenous ligand(s) and that its cardiac glycoside-binding site can play a physiological role in the dynamic adaptations to exercise. cardiotonic steroids ͉ endogenous cardiac glycosides ͉ ouabain

This study uses genetically altered mice to examine the contribution of the Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase alpha2 catalytic subunit to resting potential, excitability, and contractility of the perinatal diaphragm. The alpha2 protein is reduced by 38% in alpha2-heterozygous and absent in alpha2-knockout mice, and alpha1-isoform is upregulated 1.9-fold in alpha2-knockout. Resting potentials are depolarized by 0.8-4.0 mV in heterozygous and knockout mice. Action potential threshold, overshoot, and duration are normal. Spontaneous firing, a developmental function, is impaired in knockout diaphragm, but this does not compromise its ability to fire evoked action potential trains, the dominant mode of activation near birth. Maximum tetanic force, rate of activation, force-frequency and force-voltage relationships, and onset and magnitude of fatigue are not changed. The major phenotypic consequence of reduced alpha2 content is that relaxation from contraction is 1.7-fold faster. This finding reveals a distinct cellular role of the alpha2-isoform at a step after membrane excitation, which cannot be restored simply by increasing alpha1 content. Na+/Ca2+ exchanger expression decreases in parallel with alpha2-isoform, suggesting that Ca2+ extrusion is affected by the altered alpha2 genotype. There are no major compensatory changes in expression of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase, phospholamban, or plasma membrane Ca(2+)-ATPase. These results demonstrate that the Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase alpha1-isoform alone is able to maintain equilibrium K+ and Na+ gradients and to substitute for alpha2-isoform in most cellular functions related to excitability and force. They further indicate that the alpha2-isoform contributes significantly less at rest than expected from its proportional content but can modulate contractility during muscle contraction.

The use of ICP-MS to measure metal ion content in biological tissues offers a highly sensitive means to study metal-dependent physiological processes. Here we describe the application of ICP-MS to measure membrane transport of Rb and K ions by the Na,K-ATPase in mouse skeletal muscles and human red blood cells. The ICP-MS method provides greater precision and statistical power than possible with conventional tracer flux methods. The method is widely applicable to studies of other metal ion transporters and metal-dependent processes in a range of cell types and conditions.