Regulation of CFTR channels by HCO(3)--sensitive soluble adenylyl cyclase in human airway epithelial cells.

Department of Biology, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.

CFTR channels conduct HCO(3)(-) in addition to Cl(-) in airway epithelial cells. A defective HCO(3)(-)-transporting function of CFTR may underlie the pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis. In the present study, we have investigated whether a HCO(3)(-)-sensitive soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) is functionally coupled with CFTR and thus forms an autoregulatory mechanism for HCO(3)(-) transport in human airway epithelial Calu-3 cells. A reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction showed that transcripts of both full-length and truncated sACs are present in Calu-3 cells. Truncated sAC protein is the predominant, if not the only, isoform expressed in Calu-3 cells. HCO(3)(-) stimulated a modest increase in cAMP production, and the increase was sensitive to 2-hydroxyestradiol (2-HE), a sAC inhibitor, but not to SQ22,536, a blocker of conventional transmembrane adenylyl cyclases. These results suggest that sAC is functional in Calu-3 cells. Adding 25 mM HCO(3)(-) to the bath stimulated CFTR-mediated whole cell currents in the absence, but not in the presence, of 2-HE. In cell-attached membrane patches, 25 or 50 mM HCO(3)(-) in the bath markedly increased the product of channel number and open probability of CFTR, and this activation was attenuated by 2-HE. These findings demonstrate that sAC signaling pathway is involved in the regulation of CFTR function in human airway epithelium and thereby provides a link between the level of intracellular HCO(3)(-)/CO(2) and the modulation of HCO(3)(-)-conductive CFTR function by cAMP/PKA.

PMID: 15958523 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]