Click here to close
Hello! We notice that you are using Internet Explorer, which is not supported by Xenbase and may cause the site to display incorrectly.
We suggest using a current version of Chrome,
FireFox, or Safari.
Sci Rep
2018 Jan 10;81:289. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-18448-x.
Show Gene links
Show Anatomy links
Probing the molecular basis of hERG drug block with unnatural amino acids.
Macdonald LC
,
Kim RY
,
Kurata HT
,
Fedida D
.
???displayArticle.abstract???
Repolarization of the cardiac action potential is primarily mediated by two voltage-dependent potassium currents: I Kr and I Ks . The voltage-gated potassium channel that gives rise to I Kr, Kv11.1 (hERG), is uniquely susceptible to high-affinity block by a wide range of drug classes. Pore residues Tyr652 and Phe656 are critical to potent drug interaction with hERG. It is considered that the molecular basis of this broad-spectrum drug block phenomenon occurs through interactions specific to the aromatic nature of the side chains at Tyr652 and Phe656. In this study, we used nonsense suppression to incorporate singly and doubly fluorinated phenylalanine residues at Tyr652 and Phe656 to assess cation-π interactions in hERG terfenadine, quinidine, and dofetilide block. Incorporation of these unnatural amino acids was achieved with minimal alteration to channel activation or inactivation gating. Our assessment of terfenadine, quinidine, and dofetilide block did not reveal evidence of a cation-π interaction at either aromatic residue, but, interestingly, shows that certain fluoro-Phe substitutions at position 652 result in weaker drug potency.
Figure 1. Aromatic residues Tyr652 and Phe656 in hERG shown to be important in drug block. (A) Cartoon schematic of approximate location of Tyr652 and Phe656 in hERG pore region. (B) Top-down view of the pore region of hERG pore from cryo-EM structure 5VA132. Aromatic residues Tyr652 and Phe656 are highlighted in blue and pink respectively. (C) Chemical structures of terfenadine, quinidine, and dofetilide.
Figure 2. Incorporation of natural and unnatural amino acids through nonsense suppression is well tolerated at both Tyr652 and Phe656. A 5 s depolarization to 0 mV from a holding potential of â110âmV was used to assess construct expression. All mutants were successfully expressed via nonsense suppression and representative traces are displayed here.
Figure 3. Voltage-dependence of activation is unchanged by Phe fluorination at position 652, but hyperpolarized at position 656. (A) Ionic current from WT, Y652F2, and F656F2 mutant hERG channels recorded during 5 s depolarizations from â110âmV to 20âmV in 10âmV increments followed by repolarization to â110âmV (protocol inset at top). Pulses were applied every 7 s. (B) GV0.5 values for all constructs. GV fit parameters are found in Table S1. (C) GV relationships of the UAA mutants at position 656 and WT as measured from tail currents at â110âmV.
Figure 4. Voltage-dependence of inactivation unchanged among mutant channels. (A) Representative trace of WT hERG current resulting from the inactivation protocol (inset left). The protocol is described in further detail in Methods. An expanded view of the currents during the P2 and P3 pulses are shown in the right inset. (B) V0.5 values for inactivation of all constructs. Fit parameters are found in Table S1. (C) Steady-state inactivation relationships of all constructs.
Figure 5. Fluorination of Phe656 does not reduce terfenadine potency; however, mono-fluorination of Y652F at the C4 phenyl ring carbon results in a large reduction in terfenadine potency. (A) Protocol used to evaluate drug block. From a holding potential of â110âmV, channels are depolarized to 0âmV for 5 s and are then repolarized first to â50âmV for 300âms and then back to â110âmV. (B) Currents from Y652F*, F656F*, and Y652F1 in control and in response to terfenadine concentrations of 10, 30, 100, 300, 1000ânM. (C) Terfenadine IC50s and Hill coefficients. IC50 and h fit parameters are found in Table S2. (D) Concentration-response curves of WT and Y652F series.
Figure 6. Fluorination of Phe656 reduces quinidine potency in a non-additive fashion; however, only mono-fluorination of Y652F at the C4 phenyl ring carbon results in reduced quinidine potency. (A) Currents from Y652F2 and Y652F1 elicited from the protocol shown in Fig. 4A in control and in response to quinidine concentrations of 2, 6, 20, 60, 200âμM (B) Quinidine IC50 and Hill coefficients. IC50 and h fit parameters are found in Table S2. (C) Concentration-response curves of Y652F fluorinated mutant series and WT (D) Concentration-response curves of Phe656 fluorinated mutant series and WT.
Figure 7. Fluorination of Phe656 does not reduce dofetilide potency; however, mono-fluorination of Y652F at the C4 carbon of the phenyl ring results in a large reduction in dofetilide potency. (A) Currents from Y652F1 and F656F1 in control and in response to dofetilide concentrations of 10, 30, 100, 300, 1000ânM. (B) Dofetilide IC50 and Hill coefficients. IC50 and h fit parameters are found in Table S2. (C) Concentration-response curves of WT and Y652F series.
Ahern,
A cation-pi interaction between extracellular TEA and an aromatic residue in potassium channels.
2006, Pubmed
Ahern,
A cation-pi interaction between extracellular TEA and an aromatic residue in potassium channels.
2006,
Pubmed
Beene,
Unnatural amino acid mutagenesis in mapping ion channel function.
2003,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Boukharta,
Computer simulations of structure-activity relationships for HERG channel blockers.
2011,
Pubmed
Braga,
Tuning HERG out: antitarget QSAR models for drug development.
2014,
Pubmed
Brown,
Drugs, hERG and sudden death.
2004,
Pubmed
Curran,
A molecular basis for cardiac arrhythmia: HERG mutations cause long QT syndrome.
1995,
Pubmed
Dougherty,
Cation-pi interactions in chemistry and biology: a new view of benzene, Phe, Tyr, and Trp.
1996,
Pubmed
Du,
Ranolazine inhibition of hERG potassium channels: drug-pore interactions and reduced potency against inactivation mutants.
2014,
Pubmed
Dumont,
Oogenesis in Xenopus laevis (Daudin). I. Stages of oocyte development in laboratory maintained animals.
1972,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Fernandez,
Physicochemical features of the HERG channel drug binding site.
2004,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Ficker,
Molecular determinants of inactivation and dofetilide block in ether a-go-go (EAG) channels and EAG-related K(+) channels.
2001,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Hille,
Local anesthetics: hydrophilic and hydrophobic pathways for the drug-receptor reaction.
1977,
Pubmed
Kamiya,
Molecular determinants of HERG channel block.
2006,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Kamiya,
Molecular determinants of hERG channel block by terfenadine and cisapride.
2008,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Knape,
In silico analysis of conformational changes induced by mutation of aromatic binding residues: consequences for drug binding in the hERG K+ channel.
2011,
Pubmed
Lees-Miller,
Molecular determinant of high-affinity dofetilide binding to HERG1 expressed in Xenopus oocytes: involvement of S6 sites.
2000,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Lummis,
A cation-pi binding interaction with a tyrosine in the binding site of the GABAC receptor.
2005,
Pubmed
Melgari,
hERG potassium channel blockade by the HCN channel inhibitor bradycardic agent ivabradine.
2015,
Pubmed
Melgari,
Molecular basis of hERG potassium channel blockade by the class Ic antiarrhythmic flecainide.
2015,
Pubmed
Mitcheson,
Structural determinants for high-affinity block of hERG potassium channels.
2005,
Pubmed
Mitcheson,
A structural basis for drug-induced long QT syndrome.
2000,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Mitcheson,
Drug binding to HERG channels: evidence for a 'non-aromatic' binding site for fluvoxamine.
2003,
Pubmed
Pearlstein,
Understanding the structure-activity relationship of the human ether-a-go-go-related gene cardiac K+ channel. A model for bad behavior.
2003,
Pubmed
Perrin,
Drug binding to the inactivated state is necessary but not sufficient for high-affinity binding to human ether-à-go-go-related gene channels.
2008,
Pubmed
Perry,
Structural determinants of HERG channel block by clofilium and ibutilide.
2004,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Pless,
Contributions of counter-charge in a potassium channel voltage-sensor domain.
2011,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Pless,
Molecular basis for class Ib anti-arrhythmic inhibition of cardiac sodium channels.
2011,
Pubmed
Pless,
A cation-π interaction at a phenylalanine residue in the glycine receptor binding site is conserved for different agonists.
2011,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Sanguinetti,
hERG potassium channels and cardiac arrhythmia.
2006,
Pubmed
Sanguinetti,
A mechanistic link between an inherited and an acquired cardiac arrhythmia: HERG encodes the IKr potassium channel.
1995,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Splawski,
Spectrum of mutations in long-QT syndrome genes. KVLQT1, HERG, SCN5A, KCNE1, and KCNE2.
2000,
Pubmed
Stansfeld,
Drug block of the hERG potassium channel: insight from modeling.
2007,
Pubmed
Stansfeld,
Molecular mechanisms for drug interactions with hERG that cause long QT syndrome.
2006,
Pubmed
Trudeau,
HERG, a human inward rectifier in the voltage-gated potassium channel family.
1995,
Pubmed
Vandenberg,
hERG K(+) channels: structure, function, and clinical significance.
2012,
Pubmed
Wang,
Cryo-EM Structure of the Open Human Ether-à-go-go-Related K+ Channel hERG.
2017,
Pubmed
Wang,
Modulation of HERG affinity for E-4031 by [K+]o and C-type inactivation.
1997,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Wu,
The Link between Inactivation and High-Affinity Block of hERG1 Channels.
2015,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Yang,
Inactivation gating determines drug potency: a common mechanism for drug blockade of HERG channels.
2004,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Zhong,
From ab initio quantum mechanics to molecular neurobiology: a cation-pi binding site in the nicotinic receptor.
1998,
Pubmed