Regulatory volume decrease in HL-60 cells: importance of rapid changes in permeability of Cl- and organic solutes.

Stimulation with leukotriene D4 (LTD4) (3-100 nM) induces a transient increase in the free intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells. The LTD4-induced increase in [Ca2+]i is, however, significantly reduced in Ca2+-free medium (2 mM EGTA), and under these conditions stimulation with a low LTD4 concentration (3 nM) does not result in any detectable increase in [Ca2+]i. Addition of LTD4 (3-100 nM) moreover accelerates the KCl loss seen during Regulatory Volume Decrease (RVD) in cells suspended in a hypotonic medium. The LTD4-induced (100 nM) acceleration of the RVD response is also seen in Ca2+-free medium and also at 3 nM LTD4, indicating that LTD4 can open K+- and Cl--channels without any detectable increase in [Ca2+]i. Buffering cellular Ca2+ with BAPTA almost completely blocks the LTD4-induced (100 nM) acceleration of the RVD response. Thus, the reduced [Ca2+]i level after BAPTA-loading or buffering of [Ca2+]i seems to inhibit the LTD4-induced stimulation of the RVD response even though the LTD4-induced cell shrinkage is not necessarily preceded by any detectable increase in [Ca2+]i. The LTD4 receptor antagonist L649, 923 (1 microM) completely blocks the LTD4-induced increase in [Ca2+]i and inhibits the RVD response as well as the LTD4-induced acceleration of the RVD response. When the LTD4 receptor is desensitized by preincubation with 100 nM LTD4, a subsequent RVD response is strongly inhibited. In conclusion, the present study supports the notion that LTD4 plays a role in the activation of the RVD response. LTD4 seems to activate K+ and Cl- channels via stimulation of a LTD4 receptor with no need for a detectable increase in [Ca2+]i.

The vertebrate transient receptor potential cationic channel TRPV4 has been proposed as an osmo- and mechanosensor channel. Studies using knock-out animal models have further emphasized the relevance of the TRPV4 channel in the maintenance of the internal osmotic equilibrium and mechanosensation. However, at the cellular level, there is still one important question to answer: does the TRPV4 channel generate the Ca(2+) signal in those cells undergoing a Ca(2+)-dependent regulatory volume decrease (RVD) response? RVD in human airway epithelia requires the generation of a Ca(2+) signal to activate Ca(2+)-dependent K(+) channels. The RVD response is lost in airway epithelia affected with cystic fibrosis (CF), a disease caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator channel. We have previously shown that the defective RVD in CF epithelia is linked to the lack of swelling-dependent activation of Ca(2+)-dependent K(+) channels. In the present study, we show the expression of TRPV4 in normal human airway epithelia, where it functions as the Ca(2+) entry pathway that triggers the RVD response after hypotonic stress, as demonstrated by TRPV4 antisense experiments. However, cell swelling failed to trigger Ca(2+) entry via TRPV4 channels in CF airway epithelia, although the channel's response to a specific synthetic activator, 4 alpha-phorbol 12,13-didecanoate, was maintained. Furthermore, RVD was recovered in CF airway epithelia treated with 4 alpha-phorbol 12,13-didecanoate. Together, these results suggest that defective RVD in CF airway epithelia might be caused by the absence of a TRPV4-mediated Ca(2+) signal and the subsequent activation of Ca(2+)-dependent K(+) channels.

The putative role for Ca2+ entry and Ca2+ mobilization in the activation of the regulatory volume decrease (RVD) response has been assessed in Ehrlich cells. Following hypotonic exposure (50% osmolarity) there is: (i) no increase in cellular Ins(1,4,5)P3 content, as measured in extracts from [2-3H]myoinositol-labeled cells, a finding at variance with earlier reports from our group; (ii) no evidence of Ca2+-signaling recorded in a suspension of fura-2-loaded cells; (iii) Ca2+-signaling in only about 6% of the single, fura-2-loaded cells at 1-mm Ca2+ (1% only at 0.1-mM Ca2+ and in Ca2+-free medium), as monitored by fluorescence-ratio imaging; (iv) no effect of removing external Ca2+ upon the volume-induced K+ loss; (v) no significant inhibition of the RVD response in cells loaded with the Ca2+ chelator BAPTA when the BAPTA-loading is performed in K+ equilibrium medium; (vi) an inhibition of the swelling-induced K+ loss (about 50%) at 1-mM Ba2+, but almost no effect of charybdotoxin (100 nm) or of clotrimazole (10 microM), reported inhibitors of the K+ loss induced by Ca2+-mobilizing agonists. Thus, Ca2+signaling by Ca2+ release or Ca2+ entry appears to play no role in the activation mechanism for the RVD response in Ehrlich cells.

Volume regulatory responses of OK cells (a continuous epithelioid cell line from opossum kidney) are examined by electronic cell sizing and measurements of intracellular pH in cell suspensions. In response to a 40% reduction in osmolality, the cells swell and then subsequently shrink toward their starting volume. This regulatory volume decrease (RVD) is reduced by replacement of Cl- in the medium with acetate. Replacement of Cl- with NO3- accelerates the RVD. The RVD response is inhibited by 1 mM quinine or 100 microM 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS) in the medium. The inhibitory effect of 100 microM DIDS (but not 1 mM quinine) is altered by replacement of Cl- by NO3- in the medium. Hypotonic challenge does not induce a DIDS-sensitive net flux of acid-base equivalents. Addition of (9 microM) valinomycin also inhibits the RVD response. It is suggested that the RVD response of OK cells involves activation of separate K+ and Cl- channels.

Rabbit proximal straight tubules rapidly swell to a maximum volume when abruptly immersed into hypotonic medium. However, in a second, slower phase, termed volume regulatory decrease (VRD), tubules shrink toward their basal volume due to the efflux of K, accompanying anion and water. In the present study, we investigated the nature of the anion during hypotonic volume regulation. We removed Cl and/or the HCO3 buffer to assess their relative importance in VRD, and we used furosemide, 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (SITS), and barium to investigate the nature of the transmembrane anion pathway in VRD. Isosmotic replacement of peritubular Cl with gluconate had no effect on either tubule volume in isotonic medium or the initial osmometric swelling response in hypotonic medium. However, the VRD in such Cl-depleted tubules was significantly inhibited. Control tubules regulated 81% below their maximal volume in dilute medium. By contrast, Cl-depleted tubules regulated only 39%. This inhibitory effect could not be attributed to the absence of peritubular Cl or to the presence of gluconate. The absence of the HCO3 buffer or the presence of SITS (0.5 mM) had no inhibitory effect on the rate or extent of VRD. Furosemide alone (1 mM) also had no inhibitory effect on VRD. However, whereas barium alone delays VRD, addition of furosemide to barium-treated tubules further slowed their maximal rate of fluid efflux and delayed VRD even more.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

To study the net solute and water efflux pathways of the ciliary epithelium we employed a cultured human NPE cell line. Because of the possible relationship between transepithelial ion and water flux and cell volume regulation, the ion efflux pathways mediating regulatory volume decrease (RVD) were investigated. Osmotic swelling of NPE cells was followed by a volume recovery. Volume recovery was K+ dependent and inhibited by K+ channel blockers such as quinine (1 mM). After osmotic swelling, a Cl(-)-dependent membrane depolarization occurred that was inhibited by Cl- channel blockers such as 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)benzoic acid (100 microM) or Ca2+ chelators such as ethylene glycolbis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (EGTA, 2.0 mM). Cell swelling was also accompanied by an increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) of approximately 200 nM. The swelling-induced rise in [Ca2+]i and RVD were diminished in the presence of 10 microM La3+, 50 nM 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate, and nominally Ca(2+)-free medium. Near total blockage of RVD occurred after pretreatment of NPE cells with Ca(2+)-free EGTA-1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (BAPTA) acetoxymethyl ester-containing solutions. The inhibition of RVD by EGTA-BAPTA treatment was overcome by increasing K+ conductance with gramicidin. The above findings indicate that RVD in NPE cells is mediated by separate K+ and Cl- conductances (channels). These data also show that swelling-induced increases in [Ca2+]i help modulate net ion efflux during regulation.

Bovine spermatozoa were shown to exhibit rapid regulatory volume decrease (RVD) when exposed to hypotonic saline media. This quinine- and quinidine-sensitive regulatory volume decrease was coincident with K+ release due to stretch-activation of inhibitor-specific presumptive K+ channels. The regulatory volume decrease response was much faster than a similar phenomenon observed in human peripheral blood lymphocytes. Studies on volume changes in different electrolyte and nonelectrolyte media suggested that: (1) this inhibitor-specific channel could also be a nonspecific pore in the spermatozoal membrane for nonelectrolytes below 150 daltons; (2) subpopulations (of nearly equal size) of the spermatozoa differ in the expression of the pore; (3) capacitation abolishes this distinction between subpopulations of spermatozoa; and (4) the general case of RVD for other mammalian spermatozoa was also established.

PERMEABILIZATION BY STREPTOLYSIN-O REVEALS A ROLE FOR CALCIUM-DEPENDENT PROTEIN KINASE C ISOFORMS ALPHA AND BETA IN THE RESPONSE OF CULTURED CARDIOMYOCYTES TO HYPOSMOTIC CHALLENGE

Cells of the rabbit renal cortical collecting tubule possess significant regulatory volume decrease (RVD) capabilities. After a 100-mosmol/kg reduction in peritubular osmolality, principal and intercalated cells swell 40-45 and 30-35%, respectively, and immediately activate RVD mechanisms. Both cell types downregulate their volume to within 5-6% of control volume at initial rates of 3-6%/min. Return to isotonic saline causes both cell types to shrink (isotonic shrinkage) 25-35% below control volume due to the loss of osmotically active intracellular solutes during RVD. In most mammalian cells studied to date, RVD is mediated largely by passive KCl efflux via KCl cotransport, parallel K+ and Cl- channels, or parallel K+-H+ and Cl- -HCO3- exchange mechanisms. Peritubular application of 0.1 mM ouabain (0 Na+ lumen), bilateral CO2-HCO3- removal, or bilateral application of 0.02 mM bumetanide, 2.0 mM Ba2+, 2.0 mM anthracene-9-carboxylic acid, or 0.5 mM SITS had no significant effect on rates or magnitudes of RVD and isotonic shrinkage in either cell type. Bilateral elevation of K+ from 5 to 52.5 mM reverses or reduces the electrochemical gradient for K+ movement, causing accumulation of this ion in the cytoplasm, but had no effect on the rates or magnitude of principal and intercalated cell RVD. Principal and intercalated cells from K+- or Cl- -depleted tubules (1 h bilateral perfusion with K+- or Cl- -free saline at 37 degrees C) showed normal rates and magnitudes of RVD in K+- or Cl- -free hypotonic saline. Taken together, these results argue against a significant role of passive KCl efflux pathways in mediating principal and intercalated cell RVD.

RM, a novel aminosteroid synthesized by our research group, shows a broad spectrum of antitumor activity against nine cancer cell lines and limited toxicity against two normal cell lines. However, its related mechanism of action has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we investigated the cellular and molecular events underlying the cytotoxicity of RM in human acute promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells. RM was found to induce a G0/G1 cell cycle block of HL-60 cells but not terminal myeloid differentiation. Interestingly, typical apoptotic morphological changes were exhibited by HL-60 cells treated with RM stained with Hoechst 33342 and examined by fluorescence microscopy. Apoptotic death assay using annexin-V/propidium iodide dual staining flow cytometry demonstrated a dose-dependent apoptotic effect of RM on HL-60 cells. In addition, RM induced the cleavage of caspase-3, caspase-8 and PARP, but not the cleavage of caspase-9. Our findings suggest that RM reduces HL-60 cells survival through a caspase-dependent death receptor pathway.

Methylmercury-induced inhibition of regulatory volume decrease in astrocytes: characterization of osmoregulator efflux and its reversal by amiloride

Volume changes and cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) of inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) cells under hypotonic stress were monitored by means of confocal laser scanning microscopy and fura 2 fluorescence, respectively. Reduction of extracellular osmolality from 600 to 300 mosmol/kgH2O by omission of sucrose led to an increase in cell volume within 1 min to 135 +/- 3% (n = 9), followed by a partial regulatory volume decrease (RVD) to 109 +/- 2% (n = 9) within the ensuring 5 min. In parallel, [Ca2+]i rose from 145 +/- 9 to 433 +/- 16 nmol/l (n = 9) and thereafter reached a lower steady state of 259 +/- 9 nmol/l. Under low-Ca2+ conditions (10 nmol/l) RVD was not impeded and reduction of osmolality evoked only a transient increase of [Ca2+]i by 182 +/- 22 nmol/l (n = 6). Preincubation with 100 mumol/l 8-(N,N-diethylamino)octyl-3,4,5-trimethoxy-benzoate hydrochloride (TMB-8) or 20 mmol/l caffeine, both effective inhibitors of Ca2+ release from intracellular stores, in low Ca2+ as well as in high Ca2+, inhibited the Ca2+ response and abolished RVD. The temporal relationship between Ca2+ release from intracellular stores and Ca2+ entry was analyzed by determining fura 2 quenching, using Mn2+ as a substitute for external Ca2+. Intracellular Ca2+ release preceded Mn2+ influx by 17 +/- 3 s (n = 10). Mn2+ influx persisted during the whole period of exposure to hypotonicity, indicating that there is no time-dependent Ca2+ channel inactivation. Preincubation with TMB-8 or caffeine reduced Mn2+ influx to the control level, indicating that activation of Ca2+ channels in the plasma membrane occurs via intracellular Ca2+ release.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Hypo-osmotic swelling of carp red blood cells (RBCs) induced a regulatory volume decrease (RVD), which restored the original cell volume within 140 min in oxygenated RBCs, whereas volume recovery was incomplete in deoxygenated RBCs. The complete RVD in oxygenated RBCs resulted from a sustained volume-activated release of K+, Cl- and amino acids (AAs). In the absence of ouabain, the cells also lost Na+ as released K+ was partially regained via the Na+/K+ pump. Inorganic osmolytes contributed approximately 70 %, and organic osmolytes approximately 30 %, to the RVD of oxygenated RBCs. Oxygenation in isotonic medium per se activated a K+ efflux from the RBCs. Hypo-osmotic cell swelling stimulated an additional K+ release. The oxygenation-activated and the volume-activated K+ efflux were both inhibited by DIDS and by the replacement of Cl- with NO3-, showing that both types of K+ efflux were Cl--dependent and probably occurred via the same K+/Cl- cotransport mechanism. Once activated by oxygenation, the K+/Cl- cotransport was further stimulated by cell swelling. Deoxygenation inactivated the oxygenation-induced Cl--dependent K+ release and cell swelling was not a sufficient stimulus to reactivate it significantly. In deoxygenated RBCs, the volume-induced K+ release was transient and primarily Cl--independent and, in the absence of ouabain, the cell K+ content recovered towards control values via the Na+/K+ pump. The Cl--independent K+ efflux seemed to involve K+/H+ exchange, but other transport routes also participated. Swelling-activated AA release differed in kinetics between oxygenated and deoxygenated RBCs but was important for RVD at both oxygenation degrees. Approximately 70 % of the AA release was inhibited by DIDS and substitution of NO3- for Cl- produced a 50 % inhibition, suggesting that the AA permeation was partly Cl--dependent. In oxygenated RBCs, a reduction in pH lowered the volume-activated Cl--dependent K+ efflux but not the AA efflux. In deoxygenated RBCs, the acute volume-stimulated K+ and AA release were both increased by acidification. The data are discussed in relation to possible transducer mechanisms and physiological implications.

In vitro effect of various xenobiotics on trout gill cell volume regulation after hypotonic shock

Using the human mammary epithelial cell line MCF-7, we have investigated volume-activated changes in response to hyposmotic stress. Switching MCF-7 cells from an isosmotic to a hyposmotic solution resulted in an initial cell swelling response, followed by a regulatory volume decrease (RVD). This RVD response was inhibited by the nonselective K(+) channel inhibitors Ba(2+), quinine, and tetraethylammonium chloride, implicating K(+) channel activity in this volume-regulatory mechanism. Additional studies using chromonol 293B and XE991 as inhibitors of the KCNQ1 K(+) channel, and also a dominant-negative NH(2)-terminal truncated KCNQ1 isoform, showed complete abolition of the RVD response, suggesting that KCNQ1 plays an important role in regulation of cell volume in MCF-7 cells. We additionally confirmed that KCNQ1 mRNA and protein is expressed in MCF-7 cells, and that, when these cells are cultured as a polarized monolayer, KCNQ1 is located exclusively at the apical membrane. Whole cell patch-clamp recordings from MCF-7 cells revealed a small 293B-sensitive current under hyposmotic, but not isosmotic conditions, while recordings from mammalian cells heterologously expressing KCNQ1 alone or KCNQ1 with the accessory subunit KCNE3 reveal a volume-sensitive K(+) current, inhibited by 293B. These data suggest that KCNQ1 may play important physiological roles in the mammary epithelium, regulating cell volume and potentially mediating transepithelial K(+) secretion.