Activation of lysophosphatidic acid receptor by gintonin inhibits Kv1.2 channel activity: involvement of tyrosine kinase and receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase α.

Gintonin is a novel ginseng-derived G protein-coupled lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptor ligand. The primary action of gintonin is to elicit a transient increase in [Ca(2+)]i via activation of LPA receptor subtypes. Voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels play important roles in synaptic transmission in nervous systems. The previous reports have shown that Kv channels can be regulated by Gαq/11 protein-coupled receptor ligands. In the present study, we examined the effects of gintonin on Kv1.2 channel activity expressed in Xenopus oocytes after injection of RNA encoding the human Kv1.2 α subunit. Gintonin treatment inhibited Kv1.2 channel activity in reversible and concentration-dependent manners. The inhibitory effect of gintonin on Kv1.2 channel activity was blocked by active phospholipase C inhibitor, inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor antagonist, and intracellular Ca(2+) chelator. The co-expression of active receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase α (RPTPα) with Kv1.2 channel greatly attenuated gintonin-mediated inhibition of Kv1.2 channel activity, but attenuation was not observed with catalytically inactive RPTPα. Furthermore, neither genistein, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, nor site-directed mutation of a tyrosine residue (Y132 to Y132F), which is phosphorylated by tyrosine kinase of the N-terminal of the Kv1.2 channel α subunit, significantly attenuated gintonin-mediated inhibition of Kv1.2 channel activity. These results indicate that the gintonin-mediated Kv1.2 channel regulation involves the dual coordination of both tyrosine kinase and RPTPα coupled to this receptor. Finally, gintonin-mediated regulation of Kv1.2 channel activity might explain one of the modulations of gintonin-mediated neuronal activities in nervous systems.