Abstract

Mutations in the human skeletal muscle Na + channel underlie the autosomal dominant disease hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HPP). Muscle fibers from affected individuals exhibit sustained Na + currents thought to depolarize the sarcolemma and thus inactivate normal Na + channels. We expressed human wild-type or M 1592V mutant ?-subunits with the ?- subunit in Xenopus laevis oocytes and recorded Na + currents using two- electrode and cut-open oocyte voltage-clamp techniques. The most prominent functional difference between M 1592V mutant and wild-type channels is a 5- to 10-mV shift in the hyperpolarized direction of the steady-state activation curve. The shift in the activation curve for the mutant results in a larger overlap with the inactivation curve than that observed for wild- type channels. Accordingly, the current through M 1592V channels displays a larger noninactivating component than does that through wild-type channels at membrane potentials near -40 mV. The functional properties of the M 1592V mutant resemble those of the previously characterized HPP T 704M mutant. Both clinically similar phenotypes arise from mutations located at a distance from the putative voltage sensor of the channel.