Coupling of TRPV6 and TMEM16A in epithelial principal cells of the rat epididymis.

The epididymis establishes a congenial environment for sperm maturation and protection. Its fluid is acidic, and the calcium concentration is low and declines along the length of the epididymal tubule. However, our knowledge of ionic currents and mechanisms of calcium homeostasis in rat epididymal epithelial cells remains enigmatic. In this study, to better understand calcium regulation in the epididymis, we use the patch-clamp method to record from single rat cauda epididymal principal cells. We detect a constitutively active Ca(2+) current with characteristics that match the epithelial calcium channel TRPV6. Electrophysiological and pharmacological data also reveal a constitutively active calcium-activated chloride conductance (CaCC). Removal of extracellular calcium attenuates not only the TRPV6-like conductance, but also the CaCC. Lanthanide block is time dependent such that the TRPV6-like component is inhibited first, followed by the CaCC. The putative CaCC blocker niflumic acid partially inhibits whole-cell currents, whereas La(3+) almost abolishes whole-cell currents in principal cells. Membrane potential measurements reveal an interplay between La(3+)-sensitive ion channels and those that are sensitive to the specific TMEM16A inhibitor tannic acid. In vivo perfusion of the cauda epididymal tubule shows a substantial rate of Ca(2+) reabsorption from the luminal side, which is dose-dependently suppressed by ruthenium red, a putative blocker of epithelial Ca(2+) channels and CaCC. Finally, we discover messenger RNA for both TRPV6 and TMEM16A in the rat epididymis and show that their proteins colocalize in the apical membrane of principal cells. Collectively, these data provide evidence for a coupling mechanism between TRPV6 and TMEM16A in principal cells that may play an important role in the regulation of calcium homeostasis in the epididymis.

Functional studies of acid transporter in cultured rat epididymal cell.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the functional role of vacuolar H(+)-ATPase in the pH regulation of epididymal fluid and its effect on sperm motility. DESIGN: Experimental study. SETTING: Physiology laboratory in a university. ANIMAL(S): Immature male Sprague-Dawley rats. INTERVENTION(S): The H(+)-ATPase inhibitor was applied to the primary culture of epididymal cells. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The intracellular luminal fluid pH and sperm percent motility were recorded. RESULT(S): Double immunofluorescence of H(+)-ATPase and carbonic anhydrase II in primary culture of cauda epididymal epithelial cells showed that the system was a suitable model for investigation of acid secretion by clear cells. Clear cells were pharmacologically distinct from principal cells in acid/base transportation. The intracellular pH recovery from cellular acidification was suppressed by the H(+)-ATPase inhibitor bafilomycin A1(100 nM) and the Na(+)/H(+) exchanger inhibitor amiloride (1 mM) by 85% and 54%, respectively. These results suggest that, in addition to Na(+)/H(+) exchanger, clear cells actively pump proton from cytoplasm into extracellular space through H(+)-ATPase. In addition, inhibition of H(+)-ATPase by bafilomycin A1 blocked the acidification of luminal fluid with IC(50) values of 12 nM, which supports that H(+)-ATPase acidifies the luminal fluid. We also confirm that the acid fluid regulates rat cauda sperm motility. CONCLUSION(S): The present work shows that clear cells, the minority cell type of epididymal cell population, play an important role in the pH regulation of epididymal fluid by H(+)-ATPase.

Cell-cell interaction underlies formation of fluid in the male reproductive tract of the rat.

The epithelia lining the epididymides of many species consists of several cell types. We have provided evidence that the basal cells are essential to the integrated functions of the epithelium. Basal cells, but not principal cells, and other cells in the epididymis express TRPC3 and COX-1. We have isolated basal cells from intact rat epididymis using antibody-coated Dynabeads and subjected them to whole-cell patch-clamp measurement of nonselective cation channel activity, a feature of TRPC3 protein, and Fluo-3 fluorescence measurement of intracellular Ca2+ concentration. The results show that a nonselective cation current blockable by La3+ (0.1 mM), Gd3+ (0.1 mM), or SKF96365 (20 microM) could be activated by lysylbradykinin (200 nM). In cells loaded with Fluo-3, addition of lysylbradykinin (100 nM) caused a sustained increase of intracellular Ca2+. This effect was blocked by Gd3+ (0.1 mM) or SKF96365 (20 microM) and was not observed in Fluo-3-loaded principal cells. Stimulation of basal cell/principal cell cocultures with lysylbradykinin (200 nM) evoked in principal cells a current with CFTR-Cl- channel characteristics. Isolated principal cells in the absence of basal cells did not respond to lysylbradykinin but responded to PGE2 (100 nM) with activation of a CFTR-like current. Basal cells, but not principal cells, released prostaglandin E2 when stimulated with lysylbradykinin (100 nM). The release was blocked by SKF96365 (20 microM) and BAPTA-AM (0.05 or 0.1 mM). Confluent cell monolayers harvested from a mixture of disaggregated principal cells and basal cells responded to lysylbradykinin (100 nM) and PGE2 (500 nM) with an increase in electrogenic anion secretion. The former response was dependent on prostaglandin synthesis as piroxicam blocked the response. However, cell cultures obtained from principal cells alone responded to PGE2 but not to bradykinin. These results support the notion that basal cells regulate principal cells through a Ca2+ and COX signaling pathway.

Co-expression of adrenomedullin and adrenomedullin receptors in rat epididymis: distinct physiological actions on anion transport.

Adrenomedullin (AM) has been found in the brain as well as in various peripheral tissues, including reproductive organs such as the testis and the prostate. Here, we report the expression of AM in the rat epididymis and its role in anion secretion. Whole-epididymal extracts had 35.3 +/- 1.4 fmol of immunoreactive AM per mg of protein, and immunocytochemical studies showed positive AM immunostaining in the epithelial cells. By solution-hybridization-RNase protection assay, preproAM mRNA was detected at high levels in the epididymis. Gel filtration chromatography of AM showed two peaks, with the predominant one eluting at the position of authentic rat AM (1-50). Specific binding of AM to the epididymis, which could be displaced by calcitonin gene-related peptide, was observed. The epididymis also bound to calcitonin gene-related peptide, and this was displaceable by AM. Furthermore, the epididymis was shown to co-express mRNA encoding the calcitonin receptor-like receptor and receptor activity-modifying proteins, RAMP1/RAMP2. The corpus region had the highest AM level and gene expression and the lowest active peptide:precursor ratio. However, mRNA levels of the receptor and the receptor activity-modifying proteins were similar in all regions. In monolayer cultures derived from the rat epididymal cells, AM stimulated short-circuit current on the luminal side in a dose-dependent manner. Our results demonstrate the presence of AM, preproAM mRNA, AM receptors, and specific-binding sites in the rat epididymis as well as the possible role of AM in the regulation of electrolyte and fluid secretion in the epididymis.

Mechanism of lonidamine inhibition of the CFTR chloride channel.

1. The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) Cl(-) channel is blocked by a broad range of organic anionic compounds. Here we investigate the effects of the indazole compound lonidamine on CFTR channels expressed in mammalian cell lines using patch clamp recording. 2. Application of lonidamine to the intracellular face of excised membrane patches caused a voltage-dependent block of CFTR currents, with an apparent K(d) of 58 micro M at -100 mV. 3. Block by lonidamine was apparently independent of channel gating but weakly sensitive to the extracellular Cl(-) concentration. 4. Intracellular lonidamine led to the introduction of brief interruptions in the single channel current at hyperpolarized voltages, leading to a reduction in channel mean open time. Lonidamine also introduced a new component of macroscopic current variance. Spectral analysis of this variance suggested a blocker on rate of 1.79 micro M(-1) s(-1) and an off-rate of 143 s(-1). 5. Several point mutations within the sixth transmembrane region of CFTR (R334C, F337S, T338A and S341A) significantly weakened block of macroscopic CFTR current, suggesting that lonidamine enters deeply into the channel pore from its intracellular end. 6. These results identify and characterize lonidamine as a novel CFTR open channel blocker and provide important information concerning its molecular mechanism of action.