Logo image
A CACNA1F Mutation Identified in an X-Linked Retinal Disorder Shifts the Voltage Dependence of Ca v1.4 Channel Activation
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

A CACNA1F Mutation Identified in an X-Linked Retinal Disorder Shifts the Voltage Dependence of Ca v1.4 Channel Activation

Ariana Hemara-Wahanui, Stanislav Berjukow, Carolyn I. Hope, Peter K. Dearden, Shu-Biao Wu, Jane Wilson-Wheeler, Dianne M. Sharp, Patricia Lundon-Treweek, Gillian M. Clover, Jean-Charles Hoda, …
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.102(21), pp.7553-7558
05/24/2005
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0501907102
PMCID: PMC1140436
PMID: 15897456
url
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0501907102View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Light stimuli produce graded hyperpolarizations of the photoreceptor plasma membrane and an associated decrease in a voltage-gated calcium channel conductance that mediates release of glutamate neurotransmitter. The Ca v1.4 channel is thought to be involved in this process. The CACNA1F gene encodes the pore-forming subunit of the Ca v1.4 channel and various mutations in CACNA1F cause X-linked incomplete congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB2). The molecular mechanism of the pathology underlying the CSNB2 phenotype remains to be established. Recent clinical investigations of a New Zealand family found a severe visual disorder that has some clinical similarities to, but is clearly distinct from, CSNB2. Here, we report investigations into the molecular mechanism of the pathology of this condition. Molecular genetic analyses identified a previously undescribed nucleotide substitution in CACNA1F that is predicted to encode an isoleucine to threonine substitution at CACNA1F residue 745. The I745T CACNA1F allele produced a remarkable approximately -30-mV shift in the voltage dependence of Ca v1.4 channel activation and significantly slower inactivation kinetics in an expression system. These findings imply that substitution of this wild-type residue in transmembrane segment IIS6 may have decreased the energy required to open the channel. Collectively, these findings suggest that a gain-of-function mechanism involving increased Ca v1.4 channel activity is likely to cause the unusual phenotype.
Biological Sciences DNA Electric potential Chromosome disorders Exons Pineal gland Photoreceptors Nucleotides Membrane potential Genetic mutation Electric current

Details

Metrics

Logo image