BACKGROUND:
The KCNQ1+KCNE1 (I
Ks
) potassium channel plays a crucial role in cardiac adaptation to stress, in which β-adrenergic stimulation phosphorylates the I
Ks
channel through the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)/PKA (protein kinase A) pathway. Phosphorylation increases the channel current and accelerates repolarization to adapt to an increased heart rate. Variants in KCNQ1 can cause long-QT syndrome type 1 (LQT1), and those with defective cAMP effects predispose patients to the highest risk of cardiac arrest and sudden death. However, the molecular connection between I
Ks
channel phosphorylation and channel function, as well as why high-risk LQT1 mutations lose cAMP sensitivity, remain unclear.
METHODS:
Regular patch clamp and voltage clamp fluorometry techniques were utilized to record pore opening and voltage sensor movement of wild-type and mutant KCNQ1/I
Ks
channels. The clinical phenotypic penetrance of each LQT1 mutation was analyzed as a metric for assessing their clinical risk. The patient-specific–induced pluripotent stem-cell model was used to test mechanistic findings in physiological conditions.
RESULTS:
By systematically elucidating mechanisms of a series of LQT1 variants that lack cAMP sensitivity, we identified molecular determinants of I
Ks
channel regulation by phosphorylation. These key residues are distributed across the N-terminus of KCNQ1 extending to the central pore region of I
Ks
. We refer to this pattern as the I
Ks
channel PKA phosphorylation axis. Next, by examining LQT1 variants from clinical databases containing 10 579 LQT1 carriers, we found that the distribution of the most high-penetrance LQT1 variants extends across the I
Ks
channel PKA phosphorylation axis, demonstrating its clinical relevance. Furthermore, we found that a small molecule, ML277, which binds at the center of the phosphorylation axis, rescues the defective cAMP effects of multiple high-risk LQT1 variants. This finding was then tested in high-risk patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cell–derived cardiomyocytes, where ML277 remarkably alleviates the beating abnormalities.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our findings not only elucidate the molecular mechanism of PKA-dependent I
Ks
channel phosphorylation but also provide an effective antiarrhythmic strategy for patients with high-risk LQT1 variants.