Molecular basis for pharmacological differences between brain and cardiac sodium channels

Sodium channels from brain and heart, whose primary structures are known, differ in their sensitivity to block by the guadinium toxins tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin and to block by external Zn2+ and Cd2+. Studies using site-directed mutagenesis have identified the SS2 and adjacent regions of all four repeats as critical determinants for toxin sensitivity. Within and in the immediate vicinities of the SS2 segments, there are only two amino-acid differences between rat brain sodium channel II and rat heart I sodium channel, both located in repeat I. Here we show that replacement of phenylalanine 385 of brain sodium channel by cysteine that is present at the equivalent position in heart channel (F385C) not only reduces sensitivity to the guadinium toxins but also increases sensitivity to Zn2+ and Cd2+, thus conferring properties of heart sodium channel on brain sodium channel. Replacement of asparagine at the second non-conserved position by arginine (N388R) only marginally affects sensitivity to the toxins, Zn2+ or Cd2+, but this mutation markedly reduces sensitivity to block by Ca2+ and Co2+. The double mutant channel (F385C.N388R) shows combined properties of the two mutant channels. These results give a structural insight into the different properties of the two channel proteins.