Modulation of rod photoreceptor potassium Kx current by divalent cations

Similarities between photoreceptor Kx channels and EAG and KCNQ channels suggest that the Kx channel may be related to one or both of these families of potassium channels. To provide a basis for further comparison of these channels, as well as to reveal the role of zinc (endogenously present in photoreceptors) in Kx channel modulation, we studied the effects of divalent cations on activation and kinetic properties of the noninactivating potassium current, I(Kx), in salamander rod photoreceptors. We found that divalent cations slowed the activation of I(Kx) and shifted its activation curve to positive potentials, effects attributable to surface charge screening. The effect of zinc on I(Kx) kinetics was considerably stronger than that expected from the activation curve shift alone. None of the divalent ions studied changed the monoexponential nature of I(Kx) activation. A simple model of a rod photoreceptor was created using NEURON software. In the model, zinc accelerated and sharpened the light response, broadening the frequency response of rod photoreceptors. Our results show that although the overall effects of divalent cations are in part due to surface charge screening effects, zinc also induced a specific change in I(Kx) activation kinetics, and this action profoundly alters rod response properties.