Enhanced Sodium Channel Inactivation by Temperature and FHF2 Deficiency Blocks Heat Nociception

Transient voltage-gated sodium currents are essential for the initiation and conduction of action potentials in neurons and cardiomyocytes. The amplitude and duration of sodium currents are tuned by intracellular fibroblast growth factor homologous factors (FHFs/iFGFs) that associate with the cytoplasmic tails of voltage-gated sodium channels (Na(v)s), and genetic ablation of Fhf genes disturbs neurological and cardiac functions. Among reported phenotypes, Fhf2(null) mice undergo lethal hyperthermia-induced cardiac conduction block attributable to the combined effects of FHF2 deficiency and elevated temperature on the cardiac sodium channel (Na(v)1.5) inactivation rate. Fhf2(null) mice also display a lack of heat nociception, while retaining other somatosensory capabilities. Here, we use electrophysiological and computational methods to show that the heat nociception deficit can be explained by the combined effects of elevated temperature and FHF2 deficiency on the fast inactivation gating of Na(v)1.7 and tetrodotoxin-resistant sodium channels expressed in dorsal root ganglion C fibers. Hence, neurological and cardiac heat-associated deficits in Fhf2(null) mice derive from shared impacts of FHF deficiency and temperature towards Na-v inactivation gating kinetics in distinct tissues.