Volume-sensitive Anion Channels Research Articles

Effects of sulphonylureas on the volume-sensitive anion channel in rat pancreatic beta-cells.

1. The volume-sensitive anion conductance in rat pancreatic beta-cells was studied directly using the conventional whole-cell and perforated patch recording techniques, and indirectly by measuring 3H-taurine efflux from pre-loaded, perifused islets. 2. Using the conventional whole-cell recording configuration, activation of the outwardly-rectifying, DIDS-sensitive conductance was induced by glibenclamide (10 microM) but not by tolbutamide (100 microM) nor by meglitinide (20 microM). A high concentration of glibenclamide (100 microM) caused a voltage-and time-dependent inhibition of the conductance. Tolbutamide had a modest inhibitory effect on swelling-induced inward currents. 3. In perforated patch recordings, glibenclamide, tolbutamide and meglitinide were all without effect on the conductance, although activation could be induced under these conditions by exposure to a hypotonic bath solution. 4. The rate of efflux of 3H-taurine, a marker for activity of the volume-sensitive anion channel, from preloaded, perifused islets was markedly stimulated by exposure to a hypotonic solution. However, glibenclamide and tolbutamide were both without effect. 5. Electrical activity of beta-cells in response to glibenclamide or tolbutamide was not inhibited by 4,4'-dithiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulphonic acid (DIDS), an inhibitor of the volume-sensitive anion channel. 6. It is concluded that activity of the volume-sensitive anion conductance in rat pancreatic beta-cells is not modulated by the sulphonylurea receptor. The activation of the conductance by glibenclamide in whole-cell recordings could be the result of a non-specific interaction of the drug with plasma membrane lipids.

Alanine uptake activates hepatocellular chloride channels.

Cells involved in the retrieval and metabolic conversion of amino acids undergo significant increases in size in response to amino acid uptake. The resultant adaptive responses to cell swelling are thought to include increases in membrane K+ and Cl- permeability through activation of volume-sensitive ion channels. This viewpoint is largely based on experimental models of hypotonic swelling, but few mammalian cells experience hypotonic challenge in vivo. Here we have examined volume regulatory responses in a physiological model of cell-swelling alanine uptake in immortalized hepatocytes. Alanine-induced cell swelling was followed by a decrease in cell volume that was temporally associated with an increase in membrane Cl- currents. These currents were dependent both on alanine concentration and Na+, suggesting that currents were stimulated by Na+-coupled alanine uptake. Cl- currents were outwardly rectifying, exhibited an anion permeability sequence of I- > Br- > Cl-, and were inhibited by the Cl- channel blocker 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)benzoic acid, features similar to those reported for a widely distributed class of volume-sensitive anion channels evoked by experimental hypotonic stress. These findings suggest that volume-sensitive anion channels participate in adaptive responses to amino acid uptake and provide such channels with a new physiological context.

Cellular and molecular physiology of volume-sensitive anion channels.

Maintenance of a constant cell volume in the face of osmotic stress is an evolutionarily ancient homeostatic process. Over the last two decades physiologists have gained an impressive understanding of the "volume-sensitive" channels, cotransporters, exchangers, metabolic pathways, and genes that are responsible for modulating intracellular solute content and cell volume. This review focuses on one part of this story, the characteristics and osmoregulatory functions of volume-sensitive anion channels. Three distinct types of swelling-activated anion channels have been observed and studied extensively in animal cells. These channels include 1) ClC-2, which is a member of the ClC family of voltage-gated anion channels, 2) an outwardly rectifying intermediate conductance channel, and 3) a large-conductance or "maxi" channel. In addition to these three channels, several other less well-characterized anion channels have been observed. This review discusses the electrophysiological and molecular biological characteristics and regulation of these channels. The possible roles different types of anion channels might play in cell volume homeostasis are also discussed.

Single-channel properties of a volume-sensitive anion conductance. Current activation occurs by abrupt switching of closed channels to an open state.

Swelling-induced loss of organic osmolytes from cells is mediated by an outwardly rectified, volume-sensitive anion channel termed VSOAC (Volume-Sensitive Organic osmolyte/Anion Channel). Similar swelling-activated anion channels have been described in numerous cell types. The unitary conductance and gating kinetics of VSOAC have been uncertain, however. Stationary noise analysis and single-channel measurements have produced estimates for the unitary conductance of swelling-activated, outwardly rectified anion channels that vary by > 15-fold. We used a combination of stationary and nonstationary noise analyses and single-channel measurements to estimate the unitary properties of VSOAC. Current noise was analyzed initially by assuming that graded changes in macroscopic current were due to graded changes in channel open probability. Stationary noise analysis predicts that the unitary conductance of VSOAC is approximately 1 pS at 0 mV. In sharp contrast, nonstationary noise analysis demonstrates that VSOAC is a 40-50 pS channel at +120 mV (approximately 15 pS at 0 mV). Measurement of single-channel events in whole-cell currents and outside-out membrane patches confirmed the nonstationary noise analysis results. The discrepancy between stationary and nonstationary noise analyses and single-channel measurements indicates that swelling-induced current activation is not mediated by a graded increase in channel open probability as assumed initially. Instead, activation of VSOAC appears to involve an abrupt switching of single channels from an OFF state, where channel open probability is zero, to an ON state, where open probability is near unity.

The volume-sensitive organic osmolyte-anion channel VSOAC is regulated by nonhydrolytic ATP binding.

Efflux of intracellular organic osmolytes to the external medium is a ubiquitous response to cell swelling. Accumulating evidence indicates that volume regulatory loss of structurally unrelated organic osmolytes from cells is mediated by a relatively nonselective volume-sensitive anion channel. In C6 cells, we have termed this channel VSOAC for volume-sensitive organic osmolyte-anion channel. Swelling-induced activation of VSOAC required the presence of ATP or nonhydrolyzable ATP analogues [adenosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate), adenylylmethyl-enediphosphonate (AMP-PCP), or 5'-adenylylimidodiphosphate] in the patch pipette. Sustained activation of VSOAC also required ATP. Channel rundown was observed when cellular ATP levels were lowered by intracellular dialysis with the patch pipette solution. Rundown was prevented by the ATP analogue AMP-PCP. Passive swelling-induced myo-[3H]inositol and [3H]taurine efflux was blocked by metabolic inhibitors that decreased cellular ATP levels. Titration of cellular ATP levels with azide demonstrated that the apparent dissociation constant (Kd) for ATP of both myo-inositol and taurine efflux was approximately 1.7 mM. The high Kd for ATP indicates that cellular metabolic state plays an important role in modulating organic osmolyte loss. Regulation of VSOAC activity by ATP prevents depletion of metabolically expensive organic osmolytes when cellular energy production is reduced. In addition, ATP-dependent regulation provides essential feedback to minimize the loss of energy-producing carbon sources such as pyruvate, short-chain fatty acids, ketone bodies, and amino acids, which readily permeate this channel.

Ketoconazole blocks organic osmolyte efflux independently of its effect on arachidonic acid conversion.

Ketoconazole, cinnamyl-3,4-dihydroxy-alpha-cyanocinnamate, and gossypol are reported inhibitors of the lipoxygenase (LO) and cytochrome P-450 enzyme systems and are potent blockers of swelling-activated efflux of organic osmolytes and volume-sensitive anion channels in C6 glioma cells. To directly test the hypothesis that LO- or cytochrome P-450-derived products of arachidonic acid (AA) participate in the regulation of these volume-sensitive transport pathways, we incubated C6 cells with [1-14C]AA and observed the extent and profile of its conversion under basal conditions and after acute swelling. High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis revealed that most (70-80%) of the labeled AA remained unchanged with only 6-8% and 10-20% of label converted to LO- [12(S)- and 15(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12- and 15-HETE)] and cyclooxygenase- [prostaglandin (PG) E2 and PGF2a] derived products, respectively. Leukotrienes and epoxyeicosatrienoic acid compounds were not produced. The conversion profile of [1-14C]AA was not altered substantially by cell swelling. Treatment of cells with the LO-derived products 5-, 12-, and 15-HETE or their immediate metabolic precursors, 5(S)-, 12(S)-, and 15(S)-hydroxyperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid, at 5 microM concentrations did not stimulate efflux of [3H]inositol. In addition, treatment with HETEs did not override the inhibition of efflux observed with the LO-cytochrome P-450 blocker ketoconazole. Whole cell patch-clamp experiments demonstrated that volume-sensitive anion channels, the postulated pathway for organic osmolyte efflux in C6 cells, are rapidly and reversibly blocked by ketoconazole in a fashion suggestive of direct inhibition rather than via interruption of a second messenger pathway.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Volume-sensitive anion channels mediate swelling-activated inositol and taurine efflux

C6 glioma cells accumulate the organic osmolyte inositol in response to chronic hypertonic stress. Upon return to isotonic conditions, cell swelling activates a Na(+)-independent passive low-affinity inositol efflux mechanism that is inhibited 80-100% by a number of anion transport blockers, certain lipoxygenase blockers, and various polyunsaturated fatty acids. Taurine efflux is also enhanced by cell swelling. The taurine efflux pathway has characteristics that are identical to those of the inositol efflux mechanism, including kinetics of activation and inactivation, osmotic sensitivity, pharmacological sensitivity, and inhibition by certain Na+ and Cl- substitutes. These results suggest strongly that volume-sensitive inositol and taurine efflux are mediated by a common transport mechanism. The inhibition of the transport pathway by anion transport blockers and unsaturated fatty acids suggests indirectly that efflux of these solutes may be mediated by an anion channel. Whole cell patch clamp measurements in CsCl solutions were used to test this hypothesis. Under hypertonic conditions, C6 cells had an extremely low membrane conductance (approximately 0.02 nS/pF). After cell swelling, however, whole cell anion conductance was activated rapidly to values up to 1.5-2 nS/pF. This conductance was outwardly rectified and selective for anions and was inhibited 80-100% by blockers of swelling-activated inositol and taurine efflux. The relative taurine permeability (i.e., Ptaurine/PCl) of the conductance was 0.20. Isosmotic replacement of raffinose in the external medium with inositol or sorbitol induced a transient inward current, suggesting that Cl- and these polyols compete for common binding sites on the channel. We conclude that a volume-sensitive anion channel mediates the efflux of structurally diverse organic osmolytes such as taurine and inositol from the cell.