Two heterozygous Cav3.2 channel mutations in a pediatric chronic pain patient: recording condition-dependent biophysical effects

Abstract
We report expression system-dependent effects of heterozygous mutations (P769L and A1059S) in the Cav3.2 CACNA1H gene identified in a pediatric patient with chronic pain and absence seizures. The mutations were introduced individually into recombinant channels and then analyzed by means of electrophysiology. When both mutants were co-expressed in tsA-201 cells, we observed a loss of channel function, with significantly smaller current densities across a wide range of voltages (-40 to +20 mV). In addition, when both mutant channels were co-expressed, the channels opened at a more depolarizing potential with a ~5-mV right shift in the half-activation potential, with no changes in half-inactivation potential and the rate of recovery from inactivation. Interestingly, when both mutants were co-expressed in the neuronal-derived CAD cells in a different extracellular milieu, the effect was remarkably different. Although not statistically significant (p < 0.07), current densities appeared augmented compared to wild-type channels and the difference in the half-activation potential was lost. This could be attributed to the replacement of extracellular sodium and potassium with tetraethylammonium chloride. Our results show that experimental conditions can be a confounding factor in the biophysical effects of T-type calcium channel mutations found in certain neurological disorders.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Souza, I. A., Gandini, M. A., Wan, M. M., & Zamponi, G. W. (2016). Two heterozygous Cav3.2 channel mutations in a pediatric chronic pain patient: recording condition-dependent biophysical effects. Pflugers Archiv European Journal of Physiology, 468(4), 635–642. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-015-1776-3