Role and source of ATP for activation of nonselective cation channels by AlF complex in guinea pig chromaffin cells.

Intracellular dialysis with the solution containing the G protein activator, AlF complex, induced an inward nonselective cation current (INS) at -55 mV in chromaffin cells. Amplitudes of INS induced by dialysis with ATP-free AlF solutions progressively diminished as cells were pretreated with cyanide, a mitochondrial inhibitor. After a 10-min pretreatment, generation of INS by the AlF complex depended on exogenous ATP delivered from pipette solution. The relationship between amplitudes of INS and concentrations of MgATP was well expressed by a rectangular hyperbola with an EC50 of 0.265 mM. This result suggests that the cyanide treatment almost depleted ATP near the plasma membrane. On the other hand, a similar cyanide treatment of adrenal medullary preparations did not induce a marked decrease in cellular ATP content. GTP, ITP, or UTP could not substitute for ATP in generation of INS by the AIF complex. Similarly, the substitution of ATP with non- or poorly hydrolyzable ATP analogues did not aid in generating INS. Bath application of the kinase inhibitor, H-7 (100 microM), suppressed AlF-induced INS in a manner depending on intracellular Mg2+. We conclude that ATP is a prerequisite for generation of INS as a phosphoryl donor and that mitochondria is the main source of ATP.