Abstract:
The ATP- dependant potassium channel (KATP-channel) is best known as the target of the sulfonylureas (and glinides), which enhance insulin-secretion via inhibition of the activity of the channel in the pancreatic beta-cell. KATP-channels are present in all excitable cells. They are octamers composed of four inwardly rectifying K+-channel-subunits from the Kir6.x family and of four sulfonylurea-receptors, SUR. The Kir 6.x family has two members, Kir6.1 (vascular smooth muscle) and Kir6.2 (all other types of muscular cells, beta-cells etc.). The SUR family consists of SUR1 (pancreatic beta-cells, neurons) SUR2A (cardiac and skeletal myocytes) and SUR2B (smooth muscle myocytes). SUR2A and SUR2B are generated by alternative splicing of the same gene and differ only in the last 42 amino acids of the carboxy-terminus.
Openers of the KATP-channel have therapeutic potential useful in different areas, particularly in asthma (by inhibiting airway hyperreactivity) and in bladder overactivity. The openers are structurally heterogeneous. New openers of the dihydropyridine-type show a certain in vivo selectivity for the smooth muscle in the urinary tract (Kir6.2/6.1 + SUR2B). These new dihydropyridines have almost no affinity for L-type Ca2+ channels. In this work, we have examined the binding of the novel dihydropyridine KATP-channel opener, A-312110, to the sulponylura-receptor subtypes, because the binding characteristics of dihydropyridines have not yet been established in the recombinant system. For that purpose we performed radioligand competition experiments using 3H-P1075 (tritiated opener) and 3H-glibenclamide as the radioligands in membranes of HEK-cells expressing the different SUR-subtypes. Emphasis was placed on the study of the allosteric coupling of A-312110 binding with the binding of glibenclamide and MgATP, and on the modulation of these effects by coexpression of SUR with Kir6.2.
In the presence of MgATP, A-312110 was a potent ligand with a slight selectivity for SUR2A (Ki= 14 nM against 3H-P1075 as radioligand) over SUR2B (18 nM). At SUR2A, binding of A-312110 was coupled significantly more strongly to MgATP binding than in case of SUR2B. Inhibition of 3H-glibenclamide binding to SUR2A and 2B by the opener was studied using the mutants SUR2A(Y1206S) and SUR2B(Y1206S) which have an increased affinity for glibenclamide. The inhibition curves were clearly biphasic with characteristics that we had observed earlier with other �typical openers� (Russ et al., Br J Pharmacol, 139:368-380 (2003)). For this reason, A-312110 belongs to the class of �typical openers�. In the absence of MgATP, binding of the opener to SUR2A was decreased ~140 fold, to SUR2B ~70 fold. The factor ~70 of SUR2B is clearly lower than for most of the other openers (average value ~200, Russ et al., op. cit.). In the presence of MgATP, coexpression with Kir6.2 weakened the affinity of SUR2A towards A-312110 by the factor ~2 and increased the affinity of SUR2A to glibenclamide by the factor ~5. Furthermore, the biphasic nature of the 3H-glibenclamide � A-312110 inhibition curve with SUR2A(Y1206S) was diminished by coexpression with Kir6.2. Interactions with SUR1 were negligible (Ki > 300 nM).
In summary, one can state that the binding-profile of A-312110 differs from that of P1075 in some characteristic details (e.g. the preferential coupling with SUR2A) but on the whole, the binding characteristics of the two openers they are very similar. In consideration of the structural differences between the two (dihydropyridine vs. cyanoguanidine/pyridine) this similarity is astonishing. One may assume that both openers share a common pharmacophore to couple to SUR. No in vitro selectivity for the smooth muscle of the urinary tract over other muscle cells was found.