Activation of the skeletal muscle calcium release channel by a cytoplasmic loop of the dihydropyridine receptor.

Expression studies with skeletal and cardiac muscle cDNAs have suggested that the putative cytoplasmic loop region of the dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR) alpha 1 subunit between transmembrane repeats II and III (DCL) is a major determinant of the type of excitation-contraction coupling (skeletal or cardiac) in rescued dysgenic muscle cells (Tanabe, T., Beam, K. G., Adams, B. A., Niidome, T., and Numa, S. (1990) Nature 346, 567-569). In this study, the possibility of a direct functional interaction with the sarcoplasmic reticulum ryanodine receptor/Ca2+ release channel has been tested by expressing the DCLs of the mammalian skeletal and cardiac muscle DHPR alpha 1 subunit in Escherichia coli. The purified peptides activated the skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor/Ca2+ release channel in single channel and [3H]ryanodine binding measurements, by increasing channel open probability and the affinity of [3H]ryanodine binding, respectively. The two peptides did not activate the cardiac muscle Ca2+ release channel. Other proteins (polylysine, serum albumin) also increased [3H]ryanodine binding and Ca2+ release channel activity, but their activation mechanisms were distinguishable from DCLs. These results show that the II-III cytoplasmic loop of the skeletal and cardiac DHPR alpha 1 subunit functionally interacts with the skeletal, but not cardiac, muscle Ca2+ release channel. Furthermore, our studies suggest that in addition to the DHPR, the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release channel may determine the type of E-C coupling that exists in muscle.