Chloride transport in control and cystic fibrosis human skin fibroblast membrane vesicles

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Plasma membrane vesicles were isolated from either cystic fibrosis (CF) or non-CF cultured fibroblasts derived from skin biopsies of either foetus, child or adolescent human donors. The total membrane yield was essentially identical for either CF or control membranes. By using a rapid filtration technique, 36Cl uptake by these vesicles was quantitated in the absence and presence of alkali-metal ion-, electrical- and/or pH gradients. In the absence of a pH gradient (pH out = pH in = 7.5), Cl uptake took place downhill in both cases. Either cis K +, cis Na + or an equimolar mixture of cis Na + plus K + caused Cl uptake activation. In the presence of an alkaline-inside pH gradient (pH out/pH in = 5.5/7.5), Cl uptake exhibited an apparent overshoot independently of the presence or absence of any metal-ion gradient. The observed potassium-, sodium- and proton-dependent Cl influx rates were all unaffected by voltage clamping, indicating the existence in these vesicles of electroneutral symport systems of the type Cl −/H +, Cl −/K + and/or Cl −/Na +; but not 2 Cl −/Na +/K +. In the presence of an inward-directed K + gradient, valinomycin further increased Cl uptake, bot in the presence and in the absence of a pH gradient, indicating the presence of a rheogenic Cl uniport. In absolute quantitative terms, the two different modes (rheogenic and electroneutral) of Cl transport evinced in these vesicles were about 45% lower in CF than in control skin fibroblasts. However, qualitatively, there was no difference between normal and CF cells. The evidence obtained indicates that the CF defect, which is expressed in fibroblast plasma membranes, does not affect specifically either the rheogenic or the electroneutral Cl transport systems. Rather, the CF cells appear to give a smaller yield to closed, functional vesicles, reflected by a significantly smaller apparent intravesicular volume. Because it also affects the transport of d-glucose and l-alanine, this anomaly could be the consequence of a generalized membrane defect characterizing CF fibroblasts.