The diversity of calcium channels and their regulation in epithelial cells

Ion channels in asthma

Ion channels are specialized transmembrane proteins that permit the passive flow of ions following their electrochemical gradients. In the airways, ion channels participate in the production of epithelium-based hydroelectrolytic secretions and in the control of intracellular Ca(2+) levels that will ultimately activate almost all lung cells, either resident or circulating. Thus, ion channels have been the center of many studies aiming to understand asthma pathophysiological mechanisms or to identify therapeutic targets for better control of the disease. In this minireview, we focus on molecular, genetic, and animal model studies associating ion channels with asthma.

Molecular characterization of rabbit renal epithelial calcium channel

PCR and antisense oligodeoxy-nucleotide (ODN) blocking were used to identify a calcium (Ca) channel in rabbit proximal tubule (PT) cells. The subcloned Ca channel is identical to the rabbit cardiac Ca channel (alpha(1)) except a 33 base deletion at the fourth S3-S4 linker in PT cells. Anti-sense ODN treatment (18 h) inhibited 73 and 44% of Ca influxes induced by hypoosmotic stress (220 Osm) and by 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol (5 microM), respectively. The results indicate that the subcloned channel is a spliced variant of the cardiac Ca channel and that it plays a critical role in regulation of Ca signaling in these cells.

Effect of elevated glucose on endothelin-induced store-operated and non-store-operated calcium influx in renal mesangial cells

Early diabetic nephropathy exhibits renal glomerular hyperfiltration and an increase in renal plasma flow. The hyperfiltration is a dysfunctional state that may arise from a hyperglycemic-induced hypocontractility of glomerular mesangial cells that may be associated with depressed Ca(2+) signaling events. The present study was designed to determine the effects of acute (minutes) and chronic (days) elevated glucose levels on endothelin-induced calcium signaling with a particular emphasis on the potential influence on stores and store-operated Ca(2+) influx (SOCI; also called capacitative calcium entry) in glomerular mesangial cells. Primary cultures of rat mesangial cells were grown in either high (30 mM) or normal (5 mM) glucose-containing media and tested in the presence of either high (30 mM) or normal (5 mM) glucose levels. Intracellular calcium levels were monitored with the calcium-sensitive fluorophore fura-2 before and after treatment with either endothelin-1 (10 nM), to induce typical Ca(2+) signals, or the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca-ATPase inhibitor thapsagargin (1 microM), to unload ER Ca(2+) stores. Both acute and chronic exposure to high glucose levels depressed the endothelin-induced calcium signal. However, neither release of Ca(2+) from stores nor SOCI were depressed by high glucose levels. In contrast, an endothelin-induced calcium entry pathway (likely receptor-operated calcium influx), separate from SOCI, was markedly depressed in the presence of both acute and chronic high glucose levels. The depressant effect of high glucose was rapidly (minutes) reversible upon returning to normal glucose levels. It is concluded that high glucose levels depress endothelin-induced calcium signaling in rat mesangial cells by inhibiting non-SOCI Ca(2+) entry pathways, namely the receptor-operated Ca(2+) influx pathway. The glucose-induced alterations in the receptor-operated calcium influx pathway may, in part, contribute to the depressed contractile state of glomerular cells during periods of hyperglycemia.