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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Exploring Arterial Smooth Muscle Kv7 Potassium Channel Function using Patch Clamp Electrophysiology and Pressure Myography
Published on: September 14, 2012
The effect of hydroxylamine on KATP channels in vascular smooth muscle and underlying mechanisms
Guanghua Tang1, Lingyun Wu, Rui Wang
1Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
Abstract:
Hydroxylamine (HA) is a putative intermediate in the conversion of l-arginine to nitric oxide (NO). HA was reported to cause the relaxation of precontracted aorta strips; however, the ionic mechanisms of HA-induced vasorelaxation were not yet known. In the present study, the whole-cell patch-clamp technique was used to examine the effects of HA on ATP-sensitive K+ (K(ATP)) currents and membrane potentials in vascular smooth muscle cells from rat mesenteric arteries and underlying mechanisms. It was found that bath-applied HA reversibly enhanced K(ATP) currents in a concentration-dependent fashion with an EC50 of 54 +/- 3.4 microM and hyperpolarized the cell membrane from -48 +/- 5.2 to -65 +/- 7.5 mV (n = 6, p < 0.01). The increase in K(ATP) currents induced by HA was suppressed by superoxide dismutase (-380 +/- 45 to -160 +/- 20 pA, n = 4, p < 0.01) and N-acetyl-L-cysteine (-385 +/- 55 to -150 +/- 16 pA, n = 5, p < 0.01), indicating the involvement of different free radicals, including superoxide anion. Hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase increased not only basal K(ATP) currents, but also HA-enhanced K(ATP) currents (from -355 +/- 40 to -480 +/- 62 pA, n = 6, p < 0.05). Sodium nitroprusside, a spontaneous NO donor, and a membrane-permeable cGMP analog (8-bromo-cGMP) were without effects on HA-enhanced K(ATP) currents or basal K(ATP) currents. Our results indicate that HA augmented K(ATP) channel activity and hyperpolarized cell membrane, possibly via increased free radical generation.
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