A forward genetic screen identifies chaperone CNX-1 as a conserved biogenesis regulator of ERG K+ channels.

The human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) encodes a voltage-gated potassium channel that controls repolarization of cardiac action potentials. Accumulating evidence suggests that most disease-related hERG mutations reduce the function of the channel by disrupting protein biogenesis of the channel in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). However, the molecular mechanism underlying the biogenesis of ERG K⁺ channels is largely unknown. By forward genetic screening, we identified an ER-located chaperone CNX-1, the worm homologue of mammalian chaperone Calnexin, as a critical regulator for the protein biogenesis of UNC-103, the ERG-type K⁺ channel in Caenorhabditis elegans Loss-of-function mutations of cnx-1 decreased the protein level and current density of the UNC-103 K⁺ channel and suppressed the behavioral defects caused by a gain-of-function mutation in unc-103 Moreover, CNX-1 facilitated tetrameric assembly of UNC-103 channel subunits in a liposome-assisted cell-free translation system. Further studies showed that CNX-1 act in parallel to DNJ-1, another ER-located chaperone known to regulate maturation of UNC-103 channels, on controlling the protein biogenesis of UNC-103. Importantly, Calnexin interacted with hERG proteins in the ER in HEK293T cells. Deletion of calnexin reduced the expression and current densities of endogenous hERG K⁺ channels in SH-SY5Y cells. Collectively, we reveal an evolutionarily conserved chaperone CNX-1/Calnexin controlling the biogenesis of ERG-type K⁺ channels.