Abstract
Voltage-gated calcium channels are multi-subunit protein complexes that specifically allow calcium ions to enter the cell in response to membrane depolarization. But, for many years it seemed that the skeletal muscle calcium channel CaV1.1 is the exception. The classical splice variant CaV1.1a activates slowly, has a very small current amplitude and poor voltage sensitivity. In fact adult muscle fibers work perfectly well even in the absence of calcium influx. Recently a new splice variant of the skeletal muscle calcium channel CaV1.1e has been characterized. The lack of the 19 amino acid exon 29 in this splice variant results in a rapidly activating calcium channel with high current amplitude and good voltage sensitivity. CaV1.1e is the dominant channel in embryonic muscle, where the expression of this high calcium-conducting CaV1.1 isoform readily explains developmental processes depending on L-type calcium currents. Moreover, the availability of these two structurally similar but functionally distinct channel variants facilitates the analysis of the molecular mechanisms underlying the unique current properties of the classical CaV1.1a channel.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by grants from the Austrian Research Fund (FWF) P20059 and P23479 to BEF, and from the Medical University Innsbruck MFI 2007-417 to PT.
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Tuluc, P., Flucher, B.E. Divergent biophysical properties, gating mechanisms, and possible functions of the two skeletal muscle CaV1.1 calcium channel splice variants. J Muscle Res Cell Motil 32, 249–256 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10974-011-9270-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10974-011-9270-9