Orexin (hypocretin) effects on constitutively active inward rectifier K+ channels in cultured nucleus basalis neurons

Orexins are excitatory transmitters implicated in sleep disorders. Because orexins were discovered only recently, their ionic and signal transduction mechanisms have not been well clarified. We recently reported that orexin A (OXA) inhibits G protein-coupled inward rectifier K+ (GIRK) channels in cultured locus coeruleus and nucleus tuberomammillaris neurons. Other work in our laboratory revealed the existence of a novel inward rectifier K+ channel (KirNB), which is located in cholinergic neurons of the nucleus basalis (NB) and possesses unique single-channel characteristics. The mean open time is considerably shorter in KirNB than in Kir2.0 channels. Constitutive activity and a smaller unitary conductance set KirNB apart from cloned Kir3.0 channels. Previously, we found that substance P excites NB neurons by inhibiting KirNB channels. Here we show that orexins suppress KirNB channel activity, likely leading to neuronal excitation. Electrophysiological studies were performed on cultured NB neurons from the basal forebrain. OXA application decreased whole cell conductance through a pertussis toxin (PTX)-insensitive G protein. The OXA-suppressed current was inwardly rectifying with a reversal potential around E(K). Single-channel recordings of NB neurons revealed that constitutively active KirNB channels were transiently inhibited by OXA. Okadaic acid pretreatment abolished the recovery. The results suggest that OXA inhibition of KirNB is mediated by a PTX-insensitive G protein (i.e., G(q/11)), which eventually results in channel phosphorylation. Recovery from this inhibition is by dephosphorylation. These results, taken together with our previous study, suggest that orexin receptors can elicit neuronal excitation through at least two families of inward rectifier K+ channels: GIRK and KirNB channels.