Glycosylation stabilizes hERG channels on the plasma membrane by decreasing proteolytic susceptibility

The human ether‐a‐go‐go related gene ( hERG )–encoded channel hERG undergoes N‐linked glycosylation at position 598, which is located in the unusually long S5‐pore linker of the channel. In other work we have demonstrated that hERG is uniquely susceptible to proteolytic cleavage at the S5‐pore linker by proteinase K (PK) and calpain (CAPN). The scorpion toxin BeKm‐1, which binds to the S5‐pore linker of hERG, protects hERG from such cleavage. In the present study, our data revealed that, compared with normal glycosylated hERG channels, nonglycosylated hERG channels were significantly more susceptible to cleavage by extracellular PK. Furthermore, the protective effect of BeKm‐1 on hERG from PK‐cleavage was lost when glycosylation of hERG was inhibited. The inactivation‐deficient mutant hERG channels S620T and S631A were resistant to PK cleavage, and inhibition of glycosylation rendered both mutants susceptible to PK cleavage. Compared with normal glycosylated channels, nonglycosylated hERG channels were also more susceptible to cleavage mediated by CAPN, which was present in the medium of human embryonic kidney cells under normal culture conditions. Inhibition of CAPN resulted in an increase of nonglycosylated hERG current. In summary, our results revealed that N‐linked glycosylation protects hERG against protease‐mediated degradation and thus contributes to hERG channel stability on the plasma membrane.— Lamothe, S. M., Hulbert, M., Guo, J., Li, W., Yang, T., Zhang, S. Glycosylation stabilizes hERG channels on the plasma membrane by decreasing proteolytic susceptibility. FASEB J. 32, 1933–1943 (2018). www.fasebj.org