Direct interactions between the presynaptic N-type calcium channel and the beta subunit of the heterotrimeric G-protein complex cause voltage-dependent inhibition of N-type channel activity, crucially influencing neurotransmitter release and contributing to analgesia caused by opioid drugs. Previous work using chimeras of the G-protein beta subtypes Gbeta1 and Gbeta5 identified two 20-amino acid stretches of structurally contiguous residues on the Gbeta1 subunit as critical for inhibition of the N-type channel. To identify key modulation determinants within these two structural regions, we performed scanning mutagenesis in which individual residues of the Gbeta1 subunit were replaced by corresponding Gbeta5 residues. Our results show that Gbeta1 residue Ser189 is critical for N-type calcium channel modulation, whereas none of the other Gbeta1 mutations caused statistically significant effects on the ability of Gbeta1 to inhibit N-type channels. Structural modeling shows residue 189 is surface exposed, consistent with the idea that it may form a direct contact with the N-type calcium channel alpha1 subunit during binding interactions.
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