Temperature dependence of K(+)-channel properties in human T lymphocytes

We have used whole-cell patch clamp to determine the temperature dependence of the conductance and gating kinetics of the voltage-gated potassium channel in quiescent, human peripheral blood T lymphocytes. Threshold for activation, steady-state inactivation, and the reversal potential are the same at 22 degrees and 37 degrees C. However, the time-constants for activation, inactivation, deactivation, and release from inactivation are quite sensitive to temperature, changing by at least a factor of five in each case over this range of temperatures. The onset of cumulative inactivation at 22 degrees and 37 degrees C reflects the time-course of deactivation. Peak outward current is approximately twofold greater at 37 degrees C than at 22 degrees C; this increase is also manifest at the single channel level. Energies of activation for conductance, activation, inactivation, deactivation, and release from inactivation are 8.2, 22.1, 25.0, 36.2, and 42.2 kcal/mol, respectively. No new channels were observed at 37 degrees C, and there was no evidence for alteration of the K+ conductance by putative modulators at 22 or 37 degrees C.