Steroid hormone regulation of the voltage-gated, calcium-activated potassium channel expression in developing muscular and neural systems.

A precise organization of gene expression is required for developing neural and muscular systems. Steroid hormones can control the expression of genes that are critical for development. In this study we test the hypothesis that the steroid hormone ecdysone regulates gene expression of the voltage-gated calcium-activated potassium ion channel, Slowpoke or KCNMA1. Late in adult development of the tobacco hawkmoth Manduca sexta, slowpoke (msslo) levels increased contributing to the maturation of the dorsal longitudinal flight muscles (DLMs) and CNS. We show that critical components of ecdysteroid gene regulation were present during upreglation of msslo in late adult DLM and CNS development. Ecdysteroid receptor complex heterodimeric partner proteins, the ecdysteroid receptor (EcR) and ultraspiracle (USP), and the ecdysone-induced early gene, msE75B, were expressed at key developmental time points, suggesting that ecdysteroids direct aspects of gene expression in the DLMs during these late developmental stages. We provide evidence that ecdysteroids suppress msslo transcription in the DLMs; when titers decline msslo transcript levels increase. These results are consistent with msslo being a downstream gene in an ecdysteroid-mediated gene cascade during DLM development. We also show that the ecdysteroids regulate msslo transcript levels in the developing CNS. These results will contribute to our understanding of how the spatiotemporal regulation of slowpoke transcription contributes to tailoring cell excitability to the differing physiological and behavioral demands during development.