A residue in the TRPM2 channel outer pore is crucial in determining species-dependent sensitivity to extracellular acidic pH.

Acidic pH is an important parameter regulating ion channel activity and its biological function. This study investigated inhibition of the hTRPM2 channels by extracellular acidic pH and compared the sensitivity of human (h) and mouse (m) TRPM2 channel to such an inhibition. The initial inhibition of hTRPM2 channel currents was substantially reversible, but the reversibility progressively diminished as the exposure to acidic pH was prolonged and it was essentially lost in the steady state, suggesting that extracellular acidic pH induces initial reversible inhibition and subsequent irreversible inactivation. Like the hTRPM2 channel, the mTRPM2 channel was sensitive to inhibition by pH 4.0-5.5, but the kinetics was significantly slower. Moreover, in contrast to the complete inhibition of the hTRPM2 channel, the mTRPM2 channel was insensitive to pH 6.0. Replacement of residue Gln(992) in the outer pore with the equivalent residue His(995) in the hTRPM2 channel resulted in a mutant mTRPM2 channel with the pH sensitivity and kinetics of inhibition of the wild-type hTRPM2 channel. Conversely, the reciprocal mutation H995Q in the hTRPM2 channel dramatically slowed down the kinetics of inhibition. Swapping other residues in the pore region failed to produce such opposing effects. Taken together, our results suggest a crucial role of residue His(995)/Gln(992) in the outer pore of TRPM2 channels in determining species-dependent effects of extracellular acidic pH.