Volume 272, Number 35,
Issue of August 29, 1997
pp. 21909-21916
©1997 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.
The Small Conductance Calcium-activated Potassium Channel
Regulates Ion Channel Expression in C3H10T1/2 Cells Ectopically
Expressing the Muscle Regulatory Factor MRF4
(Received for publication, May 22, 1997, and in revised form, June 26, 1997)
Teresa L.
Peña
and
Stanley G.
Rane
From the Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West
Lafayette, Indiana 47907
We investigated small conductance (SK) potassium
channel-mediated regulation of muscle-specific, ion channel functional
expression in the C3H10T1/2-MRF4 cell model system, a stable fibroblast
line ectopically overexpressing the myogenic regulatory transcription factor, MRF4. Mitogenic stimulation of C3H10T1/2-MRF4 cells with basic
fibroblast growth factor negatively regulates MRF4 transcriptional activity, inhibiting myogenesis. Using patch clamp techniques we found
that mitogenic stimulation of C3H10T1/2-MRF4 cells also up-regulated
SK. SK is a charybdotoxin-sensitive, apamin-insensitive channel that
exerts positive proliferative control in fibroblasts. Mitogen
withdrawal, which removes negative regulation of MRF4 thus initiating
myogenesis, also eliminated SK channel currents, coincident both with
induction of acetylcholine receptor channels, and up-regulation of
muscle inward rectifier potassium channels. Addition of the SK channel
blocker charybdotoxin to growth factor-containing culture medium
overcame basic fibroblast growth factor-induced negative regulation of
MRF4, as evidenced by induction of inward rectifier potassium and
acetylcholine receptor channel expression identical to that observed in
mitogen-withdrawn cells. Thus, the SK channel can govern
electrophysiological phenotype in C3H10T1/2-MRF4 cells, consistent with
an ability of SK to affect MRF4-dependent transcriptional
activity. SK appears to be a pivotal signaling component for growth
factor regulation of both cell proliferation and differentiation.