Liddle-Mutation of the β-Subunit, but not the γ-Subunit, Attenuates Protein Kinase C-Mediated Inhibition of Human Epithelial Sodium Channels (hENaC)

Mammalian distal nephron and distal colon, prime sites for Na(+) homeostasis, contain amiloride-sensitive epithelial sodium channels (ENaC). Protein kinase C (PKC) inhibits ENaC by phosphorylating serine and threonine residues within COOH termini of the β- and/or γ-subunits. Although some of these phosphorylation sites are close to the PY motifs, it is unclear whether they remain susceptible to PKC in Liddle-mutated ENaC β- and/or γ-subunits, where PY motifs are truncated, resulting in increased apical ENaC expression. We therefore studied the effects of PKC in wild-type and Liddle-mutated human epithelial Na(+) channels (hENaC) expressed in Xenopus oocytes, using the dual-electrode voltage clamp technique. PKC activation using 500 nmol/l phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) decreased amiloride-sensitive Na(+) currents by 80 % in oocytes expressing wild-type hENaC, an effect largely prevented by co-exposure to 50 µmol/l calphostin C (a specific inhibitor of PKC), whereas 500 nmol/l phorbol didecanoate (PDD), an inactive phorbol ester which does not stimulate PKC, had no effect. In oocytes expressing hENaC containing the Liddle-mutated β-subunit, PMA elicited a 54 % decrease in amiloride-sensitive Na(+) currents, significantly (P < 0.0025) less than that in oocytes expressing wild-type hENaC. By contrast, in oocytes expressing hENaC containing the Liddle-mutated γ-subunit, PMA elicited a 68 % decrease in amiloride-sensitive Na(+) current, similar (P = 0.10) to that in oocytes expressing wild-type hENaC. We conclude that hENaC incorporating the Liddle-mutated β-subunit lacks one or more PKC phosphorylation sites, thereby significantly reducing the inhibitory effect of PKC on Na(+) channel activity, whereas hENaC incorporating Liddle-mutated γ-subunits remains as susceptible to PKC as wild-type hENaC.