Under the control

condition, step depolarizations above −40 mV from the holding potential of −70 mV elicited typical vascular smooth muscle Kv-channel currents (14). A representative current trace is shown in the left panel of Fig. 1A. (+)MK801 inhibited Kv-channel currents in a concentration-dependent manner, and the peak and quasi steady-state currents (measured at the end of the test pulses) showed a similar degree of suppression during the voltage step pulses. This (+)MK801-dependent inhibition was rapidly reversible; the time course of current blockage by (+)MK801 and recovery on washout are shown in Fig. 1B. Fig. 1C presents the peak and steady-state current–voltage (I–V) relationships of Kv-channel currents in the presence and absence of various concentrations of (+)MK801. Fig. 1D summarizes the concentration dependence of the inhibition of Kv-channel currents by (+)MK801. The results shown in Selleckchem Z-VAD-FMK Fig. 1D were obtained at the end of current values at +40 mV, and were normalized to the current amplitude GSK1120212 in the absence of (+)MK801. A nonlinear least-squares fit of the Logistic function to the concentration–response data yielded an apparent IC50 value and a Hill coefficient of 89.1 ± 13.1 μM and 1.05 ± 0.08, respectively.

We next examined the voltage-dependency of the inhibition of Kv-channel currents by (+)MK801 (Fig. 1E). Drugs that interact with channels in a state-dependent manner are known to often show voltage-dependent effects, particularly in the voltage range

next of channel activation and inactivation (23), (24), (25) and (26).To quantify the effects of voltage on (+)MK801-induced inhibition of the Kv-channel current, relative current (Idrug/Icontrol) was plotted as a function of membrane potential. (+)MK801 inhibited Kv currents in a voltage-independent manner (Fig. 1E). Previous reports indicated that the ion currents recorded with TEA (relatively selective inhibitor of BKCa channel at 1 mM) in bath and high concentrations of Mg-ATP and Ca2+ chelators (such as BAPTA and EGTA) in pipette were largely Kv currents in arterial smooth muscle cells (14) and (27). However, in order to verify further that the current blocked by (+)MK801 in this study was really the current through Kv channels, we examined the effect of 4-amonopyridine (4-AP). 4-AP concentration-dependently inhibited the control current (Fig. 1F). Moreover, (+)MK801 (300 μM) failed to block the current in the presence of 4-AP (10 mM). Fig. 1G summarizes the I–V relationships in the absence and presence of 4-AP and (+)MK801, supporting the hypothesis that the current recorded in the present study is Kv current and that (+)MK801 inhibited the Kv current. Because we used hydrogen maleate salt form of MK801, we also examined the effect of hydrogen maleate on the Kv-channel current. However, hydrogen maleate (300 μM) did not inhibit the Kv-channel currents at all (Supplementary Fig. 1). The traces in Fig.