Abstract
2-Aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2-APB) elicits potentiation current (Ip) on Ca(2+) release-activated Ca(2+) (CRAC) channels. An accurate investigation into this modulation mechanism would reveal how STIM1-dependent channel gating is enhanced, and benefit the future immune enhancer development. Here, we directly probed the pore diameter of CRAC channels and found that 2-APB enlarged the pore size of STIM1-activated Orai1 from 3.8 to 4.6 Å. We demonstrated that ions with small sizes, i.e., Ca(2+) and Na(+), mediated prominent 2-APB-induced Ip on the wildtype (WT) Orai1 channels of narrow pore sizes, while conducted decreased or no Ip on Orai1-V102C/A/G mutant channels with enlarged pore diameters. On the contrary, large Cs(+) ions blocked the WT channels, while displayed large 2-APB induced Ip on pore-enlarged Orai1-V102C/A/G mutant channels, and the potentiation ratio was highest on Orai1-V102C with an intermediate pore size. Furthermore, we showed that 2-APB potentiated Cs(+) current on constitutively active Orai1-V102C/A/G mutants independent of STIM1. Our data suggest that 2-APB directly dilates the pore of open Orai1 channels, both ion size and pore diameter jointly determine the amplitude of Ip on CRAC channels, and the generation of Ip requires the open state of Orai1, not STIM1 itself.