SAP97 interacts with Kv1.5 in heterologous expression systems

PDZ domain-containing proteins such as SAP97 and ZO-1 have been implicated in the targeting and clustering of ion channels. We have explored the interactions of these polypeptides with a cardiac voltage-gated potassium channel. Immunocytochemistry in cardiac myocytes revealed colocalization of SAP97 and Kv1.5, both at the intercalated disks and the lateral membranes. Transient transfection experiments in COS-7 cells revealed that SAP97 and Kv1.5 polypeptides formed perinuclear clustered complexes that could be coimmunoprecipitated. Mutation of the three COOH-terminal amino acid residues of Kv1.5 (T-D-L to A-A-A) abolished these interactions. Whereas in most COS-7 cells the SAP97-Kv1.5 complexes were retained in the ER, functional analyses in Xenopus oocytes showed that Kv1.5-encoded outward potassium currents were augmented by coexpression with SAP97. By contrast, cotransfected ZO-1 and Kv1.5 polypeptides in COS-7 cells could not be coprecipitated nor did the coinjection of ZO-1 augment the Kv1.5-encoded currents in oocytes. Collectively, our results suggest that SAP97 may play an important role in the modulation of Kv1.5 channel function in cardiac myocytes.