TMEM16 (transmembrane protein 16) proteins, which possess eight putative transmembrane domains with intracellular NH2- and COOH-terminal tails, are thought to comprise a Cl− channel family. The function of TMEM16F, a member of the TMEM16 family, has been greatly controversial. In the present study, we performed whole cell patch-clamp recordings to investigate the function of human TMEM16F. In TMEM16F-transfected HEK293T cells but not TMEM16K- and mock-transfected cells, activation of membrane currents with strong outward rectification was found to be induced by application of a Ca2+ ionophore, ionomycin, or by an increase in the intracellular free Ca2+ concentration. The free Ca2+ concentration for half-maximal activation of TMEM16F currents was 9.6 μM, which is distinctly higher than that for TMEM16A/B currents. The outwardly rectifying current-voltage relationship for TMEM16F currents was not changed by an increase in the intracellular Ca2+ level, in contrast to TMEM16A/B currents. The Ca2+-activated TMEM16F currents were anion selective, because replacing Cl− with aspartate− in the bathing solution without changing cation concentrations caused a positive shift of the reversal potential. The anion selectivity sequence of the TMEM16F channel was I− > Br− > Cl− > F− > aspartate−. Niflumic acid, a Ca2+-activated Cl− channel blocker, inhibited the TMEM16F-dependent Cl− currents. Neither overexpression nor knockdown of TMEM16F affected volume-sensitive outwardly rectifying Cl− channel (VSOR) currents activated by osmotic swelling or apoptotic stimulation. These results demonstrate that human TMEM16F is an essential component of a Ca2+-activated Cl− channel with a Ca2+ sensitivity that is distinct from that of TMEM16A/B and that it is not related to VSOR activity.

Dynamic mapping of extracellular pH (pHe) at the single-cell level is critical for understanding the role of H+ in cellular and subcellular processes, with particular importance in cancer. While several pHe sensing techniques have been developed, accessing this information at the single-cell level requires improvement in sensitivity, spatial and temporal resolution. We report on a zwitterionic label-free pH nanoprobe that addresses these long-standing challenges. The probe has a sensitivity > 0.01 units, 2 ms response time, and 50 nm spatial resolution. The platform was integrated into a double-barrel nanoprobe combining pH sensing with feedback-controlled distance dependance via Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy. This allows for the simultaneous 3D topographical imaging and pHe monitoring of living cancer cells. These classes of nanoprobes were used for real-time high spatiotemporal resolution pHe mapping at the subcellular level and revealed tumour heterogeneity of the peri-cellular environments of melanoma and breast cancer cells.

Tumor growth of colorectal cancers accompanies upregulation of cyclooxygenase-2, which catalyzes a conversion step from arachidonic acid to prostaglandin H 2 (PGH 2 ). Here, we compared the expression levels of thromboxane synthase (TXS), which catalyzes the conversion of PGH 2 to thromboxane A 2 (TXA 2 ), between human colorectal cancer tissue and its accompanying normal mucosa. It was found that TXS protein was consistently upregulated in the cancer tissues from different patients. TXS was also highly expressed in human colonic cancer cell lines. Depletion of TXS protein by the antisense oligonucleotide inhibited proliferation of the cancer cells. This inhibition was rescued by the direct addition of a stable analogue of TXA 2 . The present results suggest that overexpression of TXS and subsequent excess production of TXA 2 in the cancer cells may be involved in the tumor growth of human colorectum.

We studied whether K ؉ -Cl ؊ cotransporters (KCCs) are involved in gastric HCl secretion. We found that KCC4 is expressed in the gastric parietal cells more abundantly at the luminal region of the gland than at the basal region. KCC4 was found in the stimulation-associated vesicles (SAV) derived from the apical canalicular membrane but not in the intracellular tubulovesicles, whereas H ؉ ,K ؉ -ATPase was expressed in both of them. In contrast, KCC1, KCC2, and KCC3 were not found in either SAV or tubulovesicles.

Gastric parietal cells migrate from the luminal to the basal region of the gland, and they gradually lose acid secretory activity. So far, distribution and function of K ؉ -Cl ؊ cotransporters (KCCs) in gastric parietal cells have not been reported. We found that KCC3a but not KCC3b mRNA was highly expressed, and KCC3a protein was predominantly expressed in the basolateral membrane of rat gastric parietal cells located in the luminal region of the glands. KCC3a and the Na ؉ ,K ؉ -ATPase ␣1-subunit (␣1NaK) were coimmunoprecipitated, and both of them were highly localized in a lipid raft fraction. The ouabainsensitive K ؉ -dependent ATP-hydrolyzing activity (Na ؉ ,K ؉ - ATPase activity) was significantly inhibited by a KCC inhibitor (R-(؉)-[(2-n-butyl-6,7-dichloro-2-cyclopentyl-2,3-dihydro-1-oxo-1H-inden-5-yl)oxy]acetic acid (DIOA)). The stable exogenous expression of KCC3a in LLC-PK1 cells resulted in associ-ation of KCC3a with endogenous ␣1NaK, and it recruited ␣1NaK in lipid rafts, accompanying increases of Na ؉ ,K ؉ -ATPase activity and ouabain-sensitive Na ؉ transport activity that were suppressed by DIOA, whereas the total expression level of ␣1NaK in the cells was not significantly altered. On the other hand, the expression of KCC4 induced no association with ␣1NaK. In conclusion, KCC3a forms a functional complex with ␣1NaK in the basolateral membrane of luminal parietal cells, and it up-regulates ␣1NaK in lipid rafts, whereas KCC3a is absent in basal parietal cells.

Litttle is known about the function of aquaporin (AQP) water channels in human gastric cancer. In the upper or middle part of human stomach, we found that expression level of AQP5 protein in intestinal type of adenocarcinoma was significantly higher than that in accompanying normal mucosa. AQP5 was localized in the apical membrane of the cancer cells. On the other hand, both AQP3 and AQP4 were not up-regulated in the adenocarcinoma. To elucidate the role of AQP5 in cancer cells, AQP5 was exogenously expressed in a cell line of poorly differentiated human gastric adenocarcinoma (MKN45). The AQP5 expression significantly increased the proportion of differentiated cells with a spindle shape, the activity of alkaline phosphatase, a marker for the intestinal epithelial cell type of cancer cells, and the expression level of laminin, an epithelial cell marker. Treatment of the MKN45 cells stably expressing AQP5 with HgCl(2), an inhibitor of aquaporins, significantly decreased the proportion of differentiated cells and the activity of alkaline phosphatase. Our results suggest that up-regulation of AQP5 may be involved in differentiation of human gastric cancer cells.

Polycystic kidney disease 2-like 1(PKD2L1), previously called transient receptor potential polycystin 3 (TRPP3), forms constitutively active voltage-dependent nonselective cation channels in the plasma membrane. The mechanism of regulation of PKD2L1 channels, however, has been poorly understood. In the present study, we found a bell-shaped alkaline pH dependence of PKD2L1 channel activity at the single-channel and whole-cell levels in patch-clamp recordings in HEK293T cells overexpressing mouse PKD2L1: alkalization to pH 8.0-9.0 increased the PKD2L1 currents, but alkalization to pH 10.0 decreased them. Single-channel analysis revealed that alkalization changed the open probability of PKD2L1 channels, but not their single-channel conductance. In addition, the voltage dependence of PKD2L1 channels was negatively and positively shifted by treatment with solutions of pH 8.0-9.0 and pH 10.0, respectively. These results indicate that the voltage-dependent gating of PKD2L1 channels was modulated by alkalization through two different mechanisms. Interestingly, we observed rebound activation of the PKD2L1 channel on washout of the alkaline solution after PKD2L1 channel inhibition at pH 10.0, suggesting that alkalization to pH 10.0 decreased PKD2L1 currents by inactivating the channels. Consistently, the PKD2L1 tail currents were accelerated by alkalization. These results suggest that alkalization is a bimodal modulator of mouse PKD2L1 channels.

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