Influence of proteolytic cleavage of ENaC’s γ subunit upon Na<sup>+</sup> and K<sup>+</sup> handling
Evan C. Ray, Andrew J. Nickerson, Shaohu Sheng, Rolando Carrisoza‐Gaytan, Tracey Lam, Allison L. Marciszyn, Lei Zhang, Alexa Jordahl, Chunming Bi, Aaliyah Winfrey, Zhaohui Kou, Sébastien Gingras, Annet Kirabo, Lisa M. Satlin, Thomas R. Kleyman
Abstract
The epithelial Na + channel (ENaC) is activated in vitro by post-translational proteolysis. In vivo, low Na + or high K + diets enhance ENaC proteolysis, and proteolysis is hypothesized to contribute to channel activation in these settings. Using a mouse expressing ENaC with disruption of a key proteolytic cleavage site, this study demonstrates that impaired proteolytic activation of ENaC’s γ subunit has little impact upon channel open probability or the ability of mice to adapt to low Na + or high K + diets.