The TASK-1 two-pore domain K+ channel is a molecular substrate for neuronal effects of inhalation anesthetics

Despite widespread use of volatile general anesthetics for well over a century, the mechanisms by which they alter specific CNS functions remain unclear. Here, we present evidence implicating the two-pore domain, pH-sensitive TASK-1 channel as a target for specific, clinically important anesthetic effects in mammalian neurons. In rat somatic motoneurons and locus coeruleus cells, two populations of neurons that express TASK-1 mRNA, inhalation anesthetics activated a neuronal K+ conductance, causing membrane hyperpolarization and suppressing action potential discharge. These membrane effects occurred at clinically relevant anesthetic levels, with precisely the steep concentration dependence expected for anesthetic effects of these compounds. The native neuronal K+ current displayed voltage- and time-dependent properties that were identical to those mediated by the open-rectifier TASK-1 channel. Moreover, the neuronal K+ channel and heterologously expressed TASK-1 were similarly modulated by extracellular pH. The decreased cellular excitability associated with TASK-1 activation in these cell groups probably accounts for specific CNS effects of anesthetics: in motoneurons, it likely contributes to anesthetic-induced immobilization, whereas in the locus coeruleus, it may support analgesic and hypnotic actions attributed to inhibition of those neurons.