Activation and inactivation of the voltage-gated sodium channel: role of segment S5 revealed by a novel hyperkalaemic periodic paralysis mutation.

Hyperkalaemic periodic paralysis, paramyotonia congenita, and potassium-aggravated myotonia are three autosomal dominant skeletal muscle disorders linked to the SCN4A gene encoding the alpha-subunit of the human voltage-sensitive sodium channel. To date, approximately 20 point mutations causing these disorders have been described. We have identified a new point mutation, in the SCN4A gene, in a family with a hyperkalaemic periodic paralysis phenotype. This mutation predicts an isoleucine-to-phenylalanine substitution at position 1495 located in the transmembrane segment S5 in the fourth homologous domain of the human alpha-subunit sodium channel. Introduction of the I1495F mutation into the wild-type channels disrupted the macroscopic current inactivation decay and shifted both steady-state activation and inactivation to the hyperpolarizing direction. The recovery from fast inactivation was slowed, and there was no effect on channel deactivation. Additionally, a significant enhancement of slow inactivation was observed in the I1495F mutation. In contrast, the T704M mutation, a hyperkalaemic periodic paralysis mutation located in the cytoplasmic interface of the S5 segment of the second domain, also shifted activation in the hyperpolarizing direction but had little effect on fast inactivation and dramatically impaired slow inactivation. These results, showing that the I1495F and T704M hyperkalaemic periodic paralysis mutations both have profound effects on channel activation and fast-slow inactivation, suggest that the S5 segment maybe in a location where fast and slow inactivation converge.