The transcription factor ETV1 regulates expression of the atrial specific potassium channel TASK-1 and modulates cardiac action potentials Free

In recent years, the two-pore domain potassium channel TASK-1 has been identified to play an important role in the pathophysiology of atrial fibrillation (AF). In cardiac tissue, TASK-1 is almost exclusively expressed in the atria and significantly upregulated in AF patients. Moreover, it has been characterized as a key player in action potential (AP) shortening observed during AF, making it a promising target for antiarrhythmic therapy. However, the underlying transcriptional mechanisms responsible for TASK-1 upregulation during AF are still unclear. A few years ago, the transcription factor ETV1 has been described to induce atrial remodeling and arrhythmia. Similar to TASK-1, ETV1 is predominantly expressed in the atria and upregulated in AF patients. Therefore, investigating possible interactions between ETV1 and TASK-1 is crucial to further understand atrial remodeling and develop new antiarrhythmic strategies.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of ETV1 regulation on TASK-1 expression. For that, electrophysiological effects of ETV1 modulation on TASK-1 currents and action potential formation were studied on HL-1 cardiomyocytes.

ETV1 modulation was achieved either through application of the pharmacological ETV1-inhibitor BRD32048 (1 µM) or transfection of HL-1 cells with a specific ETV1-siRNA. Electrophysiological effects of ETV1 inhibition were assessed using two-electrode voltage clamp experiments on Xenopus laevis oocytes heterologously expressing TASK-1 as well as whole-cell patch clamp measurements on HL-1 cells after pharmacological- and siRNA-mediated ETV1 inhibition. Chromatin immunoprecipitation combined with real-time qPCR (ChIP-qPCR) and ATAC-seq experiments were performed to identify the epigenetic interaction between ETV1 and the KCNK3 gene encoding TASK-1.

TASK-1 currents were markedly reduced in Xenopus laevis oocytes after inhibition of ETV1. Furthermore, both pharmacological inhibition and siRNA-mediated knockdown of ETV1 caused a significant decrease of TASK-1 currents in HL-1 cells by 35.8% and 39.3%, respectively. These effects were associated with a statistically significant prolongation of the action potential duration at 90% repolarization (APD90) by 28.5% after functional inhibition and 24.9% after siRNA-knockdown. This correlated with a significant decrease of TASK-1 expression on mRNA and protein level. In addition, ATAC-seq data and ChIP-qPCR revealed an enrichment of ETV1 binding within accessible regulatory elements at the KCNK3 gene locus.

ETV1-knockdown shows strong inhibitory effects on TASK-1 while ChIP-qPCR and ATAC-seq data suggest that ETV1 acts as a direct transcriptional activator of KCNK3. The finding that ETV1 is involved in the regulation of TASK-1 improves our understanding of the pathomechanisms underlying AF and will hopefully help to advance TASK-1-based AF therapy.