4zw2

Structural highlights

Disease

[CAC1S_MOUSE] Defects in Cacna1s are the cause of muscular dysgenesis (MDG), a lethal autosomal recessive disorder in which there is total lack of excitation-contraction coupling in homozygotes, and which results in complete skeletal muscle paralysis. A single nucleotide deletion yields a protein with an altered and truncated C-terminus.^[1]

Function

[CACB1_MOUSE] The beta subunit of voltage-dependent calcium channels contributes to the function of the calcium channel by increasing peak calcium current, shifting the voltage dependencies of activation and inactivation, modulating G protein inhibition and controlling the alpha-1 subunit membrane targeting. [CAC1S_MOUSE] Voltage-sensitive calcium channels (VSCC) mediate the entry of calcium ions into excitable cells and are also involved in a variety of calcium-dependent processes, including muscle contraction, hormone or neurotransmitter release, gene expression, cell motility, cell division and cell death. The isoform alpha-1S gives rise to L-type calcium currents. Long-lasting (L-type) calcium channels belong to the 'high-voltage activated' (HVA) group. They are blocked by dihydropyridines (DHP), phenylalkylamines, benzothiazepines, and by omega-agatoxin-IIIA (omega-Aga-IIIA). They are however insensitive to omega-conotoxin-GVIA (omega-CTx-GVIA) and omega-agatoxin-IVA (omega-Aga-IVA). Calcium channels containing the alpha-1S subunit play an important role in excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle.

References

1. ↑ Chaudhari N. A single nucleotide deletion in the skeletal muscle-specific calcium channel transcript of muscular dysgenesis (mdg) mice. J Biol Chem. 1992 Dec 25;267(36):25636-9. PMID:1281468