Functional differences in Kv1.5 currents expressed in mammalian cell lines are due to the presence of endogenous Kv beta 2.1 subunits.

The voltage-sensitive currents observed following hKv1.5 alpha subunit expression in HEK 293 and mouse L-cells differ in the kinetics and voltage dependence of activation and slow inactivation. Molecular cloning, immunopurification, and Western blot analysis demonstrated that an endogenous L-cell Kv beta 2.1 subunit assembled with transfected hKv 1.5 protein. In contrast, both mRNA and protein analysis failed to detect a beta subunit in the HEK 293 cells, suggesting that functional differences observed between these two systems are due to endogenous L-cell Kv beta 2.1 expression. In the absence of Kv beta 2.1, midpoints for activation and inactivation of hKv1.5 in HEK 293 cells were -0.2 +/- 2.0 and -9.6 +/- 1.8 mV, respectively. In the presence of Kv beta 2.1 these values were -14.1 +/- 1.8 and -22.1 +/- 3.7 mV, respectively. The beta subunit also caused a 1.5-fold increase in the extent of slow inactivation at 50 mV, thus completely reconstituting the L-cell current phenotype in the HEK 293 cells. These results indicate that 1) the Kv beta 2.1 subunit can alter Kv1.5 alpha subunit function, 2) beta subunits are not required for alpha subunit expression, and 3) endogenous beta subunits are expressed in heterologous expression systems used to study K+ channel function.