TY - JOUR

T1 - Small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels contribute to action potential repolarisation in human atria.

AU - Skibsbye, Lasse

AU - Poulet, Claire

AU - Diness, Jonas Goldin

AU - Bentzen, Bo Hjorth

AU - Yuan, Lei

AU - Kappert, Utz

AU - Matschke, Klaus

AU - Wettwer, Erich

AU - Ravens, Ursula

AU - Grunnet, Morten

AU - Christ, Torsten

AU - Jespersen, Thomas

PY - 2014/7

Y1 - 2014/7

N2 - Aims Small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels are expressed in the heart of various species, including humans. The aim of the present study was to address whether SK channels play a functional role in human atria.Methods and results Quantitative real-time PCR analyses showed higher transcript levels of SK2 and SK3 than that of the SK1 subtype in human atrial tissue. SK2 and SK3 were reduced in chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) compared with sinus rhythm (SR) patients. Immunohistochemistry using confocal microscopy revealed widespread expression of SK2 in atrial myocytes. Two SK channel inhibitors (NS8593 and ICAGEN) were tested in heterologous expression systems revealing ICAGEN as being highly selective for SK channels, while NS8593 showed less selectivity for these channels. In isolated atrial myocytes from SR patients, both inhibitors decreased inwardly rectifying K+ currents by ∼15% and prolonged action potential duration (APD), but no effect was observed in myocytes from AF patients. In trabeculae muscle strips from right atrial appendages of SR patients, both compounds increased APD and effective refractory period, and depolarized the resting membrane potential, while only NS8593 induced these effects in tissue from AF patients. SK channel inhibition did not alter any electrophysiological parameter in human interventricular septum tissue.Conclusions SK channels are present in human atria where they participate in repolarization. SK2 and SK3 were down-regulated and had reduced functional importance in chronic AF. As SK current was not found to contribute substantially to the ventricular AP, pharmacological inhibition of SK channels may be a putative atrial-selective target for future antiarrhythmic drug therapy.

AB - Aims Small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels are expressed in the heart of various species, including humans. The aim of the present study was to address whether SK channels play a functional role in human atria.Methods and results Quantitative real-time PCR analyses showed higher transcript levels of SK2 and SK3 than that of the SK1 subtype in human atrial tissue. SK2 and SK3 were reduced in chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) compared with sinus rhythm (SR) patients. Immunohistochemistry using confocal microscopy revealed widespread expression of SK2 in atrial myocytes. Two SK channel inhibitors (NS8593 and ICAGEN) were tested in heterologous expression systems revealing ICAGEN as being highly selective for SK channels, while NS8593 showed less selectivity for these channels. In isolated atrial myocytes from SR patients, both inhibitors decreased inwardly rectifying K+ currents by ∼15% and prolonged action potential duration (APD), but no effect was observed in myocytes from AF patients. In trabeculae muscle strips from right atrial appendages of SR patients, both compounds increased APD and effective refractory period, and depolarized the resting membrane potential, while only NS8593 induced these effects in tissue from AF patients. SK channel inhibition did not alter any electrophysiological parameter in human interventricular septum tissue.Conclusions SK channels are present in human atria where they participate in repolarization. SK2 and SK3 were down-regulated and had reduced functional importance in chronic AF. As SK current was not found to contribute substantially to the ventricular AP, pharmacological inhibition of SK channels may be a putative atrial-selective target for future antiarrhythmic drug therapy.

U2 - 10.1093/cvr/cvu121

DO - 10.1093/cvr/cvu121

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 24817686

VL - 103

SP - 156

EP - 167

JO - Cardiovascular Research

JF - Cardiovascular Research

SN - 0008-6363

IS - 1

ER -