Acid-sensitive TWIK and TASK Two-pore Domain Potassium Channels Change Ion Selectivity and Become Permeable to Sodium in Extracellular Acidification

Two-pore domain K+ channels (K2P) mediate background K+ conductance and play a key role in a variety of cellular functions. Among the 15 mammalian K2P isoforms, TWIK-1, TASK-1, and TASK-3 K+ channels are sensitive to extracellular acidification. Lowered or acidic extracellular pH (pHo) strongly inhibits outward currents through these K2P channels. However, the mechanism of how low pHo affects these acid-sensitive K2P channels is not well understood. Here we show that in Na+-based bath solutions with physiological K+ gradients, lowered pHo largely shifts the reversal potential of TWIK-1, TASK-1, and TASK-3 K+ channels, which are heterologously expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells, into the depolarizing direction and significantly increases their Na+ to K+ relative permeability. Low pHo-induced inhibitions in these acid-sensitive K2P channels are more profound in Na+-based bath solutions than in channel-impermeable N-methyl-d-glucamine-based bath solutions, consistent with increases in the Na+ to K+ relative permeability and decreases in electrochemical driving forces of outward K+ currents of the channels. These findings indicate that TWIK-1, TASK-1, and TASK-3 K+ channels change ion selectivity in response to lowered pHo, provide insights on the understanding of how extracellular acidification modulates acid-sensitive K2P channels, and imply that these acid-sensitive K2P channels may regulate cellular function with dynamic changes in their ion selectivity.