Recently it was shown that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) impairs the pacemaker current in human atrial myocytes. It was speculated that reduced heart rate variability (HRV), typical of patients with severe sepsis, may partially be explained by this impairment. We evaluated the effect of various types of LPS on the activity of human hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channel 2 (hHCN2) expressed in HEK293 cells, and on pacemaker channels in native murine sino-atrial node (SAN) cells, in order to determine the structure of LPS necessary to modulate pacemaker channel function. Application of LPS caused a robust inhibition of hHCN2-mediated current (I(hHCN2)) owing to a negative shift of the voltage dependence of current activation and to a reduced maximal conductance. In addition, kinetics of channel gating were modulated by LPS. Pro-inflammatory LPS-types lacking the O-chain did not reduce I(hHCN2), whereas pro-inflammatory LPS-types containing the O-chain reduced I(hHCN2). On the other hand, a detoxified LPS without inflammatory activity, but containing the O-chain reduced I(hHCN2). Similar observations were made in HEK293 cells expressing hHCN4 and in murine SAN cells. This mechanistic analysis showed the novel finding that the O-chain of LPS is required for reduction of HCN channel activity. In the clinical situation the observed modulation of HCN channels may slow down diastolic depolarization of pacemaker cells and, hence, influence heart rate variability and heart rate.
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