Gating and conductance changes in BK(Ca) channels in bilayers are reciprocal

The energy associated with a mismatch between the hydrocarbon portions of a lipid bilayer and the hydrophobic regions of a transmembrane protein requires that one or both components deform in an attempt to minimize the energy difference. Transmembrane potassium channel subunits are composed of different structural motifs, each responsible for ion-selectivity, conductance and gating capabilities. Each has an inherent degree of flexibility commensurate with its amino acid composition. It is not clear, however, how each structural motif will respond to a fixed amount of distortion applied to the whole structure. We examined the single-channel conductance (G(c)) and gating (open probability, P (o)) of single BK(Ca) channels (hslo alpha-subunits) inserted into planar lipid bilayers containing 1,2-dioleoyl-3-phosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) or DOPE with either 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) or sphingomyelin (SPM) and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-3-phosphatidylethanolamine (POPE) with SPM. These latter three binary mixtures formed stable membranes with different distributions of thickness domains as determined by atomic force microscopy. Channels placed in each composition should be exposed to different amounts of distortion. BK(Ca) channels forced into the DOPE/SPM bilayer containing lipid domains with two different thicknesses showed two distinct levels of G(c) and P(o). The alterations in G(c) and P(o) were reciprocal. A larger conductance was accompanied by a smaller value for gating and vice versa. Channels forced into the POPE/SPM bilayer containing lipid domains with different thicknesses showed more than two distinct levels of G(c) and P(o). Channels placed in a uniform bilayer (DOPE/DOPC) showed a uniform distribution of conductance and activation. We conclude that both the inner and outer domains of the channel where these two channel functions are localized respond to deformation and that a fixed amount of distortion results in reciprocal changes in protein function.