The voltage sensor of excitation–contraction coupling in mammals: Inactivation and interaction with Ca(2+)

In skeletal muscle, the four-helix voltage-sensing modules (VSMs) of Ca(V)1.1 calcium channels simultaneously gate two Ca(2+) pathways: the Ca(V)1.1 pore itself and the RyR1 calcium release channel in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Here, to gain insight into the mechanism by which VSMs gate RyR1, we quantify intramembrane charge movement associated with VSM activation (sensing current) and gated Ca(2+) release flux in single muscle cells of mice and rats. As found for most four-helix VSMs, upon sustained depolarization, rodent VSMs lose the ability to activate Ca(2+) release channels opening; their properties change from a functionally capable mode, in which the mobile sensor charge is called charge 1, to an inactivated mode, charge 2, with a voltage dependence shifted toward more negative voltages. We find that charge 2 is promoted and Ca(2+) release inactivated when resting, well-polarized muscle cells are exposed to low extracellular [Ca(2+)] and that the opposite occurs in high [Ca(2+)]. It follows that murine VSMs are partly inactivated at rest, which establishes the reduced availability of voltage sensing as a pathogenic mechanism in disorders of calcemia. We additionally find that the degree of resting inactivation is significantly different in two mouse strains, which underscores the variability of voltage sensor properties and their vulnerability to environmental conditions. Our studies reveal that the resting and activated states of VSMs are equally favored by extracellular Ca(2+). Promotion by an extracellular species of two states of the VSM that differ in the conformation of the activation gate requires the existence of a second gate, inactivation, topologically extracellular and therefore accessible from outside regardless of the activation state.