In hippocampal pyramidal cells, dopamine acts at D1 receptors to reduce peak Na(+) currents by activation of phosphorylation by PKA anchored via an A kinase-anchoring protein (AKAP15). However, the mechanism by which AKAP15 anchors PKA to neuronal Na(+) channels is not known. By using a strategy of coimmunoprecipitation from transfected tsA-201 cells, we have found that AKAP15 directly interacts with Na(v)1.2a channels via the intracellular loop between domains I and II. This loop contains key functional phosphorylation sites. Mutagenesis indicated that this interaction occurs through a modified leucine zipper motif near the N terminus of the loop. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings of acutely dissociated hippocampal pyramidal cells revealed that the D1 dopamine receptor agonist SKF 81297 reduces peak Na(+) current amplitude by 20.5%, as reported previously. Disruption of the leucine zipper interaction between Na(v)1.2a and AKAP15 through the inclusion of a small competing peptide in the patch pipette inhibited the SKF 81297-induced reduction in peak Na(+) current, whereas a control peptide with mutations in amino acids important for the leucine zipper interaction did not. Our results define the molecular mechanism by which G protein-coupled signaling pathways can rapidly and efficiently modulate neuronal excitability through local protein phosphorylation of Na(+) channels by specifically anchored PKA.
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