Trafficking of an endogenous potassium channel in adult ventricular myocytes

The roles of several small GTPases in the expression of an endogenous potassium current, Ito,f, in adult rat ventricular myocytes have been investigated. The results indicate that forward trafficking of newly synthesized Kv4.2, which underlies Ito,f in these cells, requires both Rab1 and Sar1 function. Expression of a Rab1 dominant negative (DN) reduced Ito,f current density by roughly one-half relative to control, mCherry-transfected myocytes. Similarly, expression of a Sar1DN nearly halved Ito,f current density. Rab11 is not essential to trafficking of Kv4.2, as expression of a Rab11DN had no effect on Ito,f over the time frames investigated here. In a process dependent on intact endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-to-Golgi transport, however, overexpression of wild-type Rab11 resulted in a doubling of Ito,f density; block of ER-to-Golgi traffic by Brefeldin A completely abrogated the effect. Also implicated in the trafficking of Kv4.2 are Rab5 and Rab4. Rab5DN expression increased endogenous Ito,f by two- to threefold, nonadditively with inhibition of dynamin-dependent endocytosis. And, in a phenomenon similar to that previously reported for myoblast-expressed Kv1.5, Rab4DN expression roughly doubled endogenous peak transient currents. Colocalization experiments confirmed the involvement of Rab4 in postinternalization trafficking of Kv4.2. There was little role evident for the lysosome in the degradation of internalized Kv4.2, as overexpression of neither wild-type nor DN isoforms of Rab7 had any effect on Ito,f. Instead, degradation may depend largely on the proteasome; the proteasome inhibitor MG132 significantly increased Ito,f density.