Published ahead of print on September 11, 2003, doi:10.1165/rcmb.2003-0183OC
© 2004 American Thoracic Society DOI: 10.1165/rcmb.2003-0183OC Apical and Basolateral ATP-Induced Anion Secretion in Polarized Human Airway EpitheliaDivision of Respiratory Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, and Department of Cellular Physiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan Address correspondence to: Yasushi Ito, M.D., Division of Respiratory Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan. E-mail: itoyasu{at}med.nagoya-u.ac.jp
The present study investigated mechanisms underlying apical and basolateral P2Y1-mediated Cl- secretion in human airway epithelial cells. Apical and basolateral ATP induced short-circuit currents (Isc) with different properties via P2Y1 receptors. The former comprised an immediate rise followed by a slow attenuation, whereas the latter was a transient rise with a higher peak and shorter duration (< 2 min). The actions of ATP were simulated by those of ADP, ADPßS, and ATP S. Antagonists of phosphatidylinositol-phospholipase C (U73122, ET-18-OCH3) were without any effect on the bilateral ATP-induced Isc, which were, in contrast, attenuated by a phosphatidylcholine-phospholipase C inhibitor (D609) and an adenylate cyclase inhibitor (SQ22536). The responses to ATP from either aspect were also sensitive to an intracellular Ca2+ chelator, 1,2-bis (o-amino-phenoxy)-ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid tetra-(acetoxymethyl)-ester, or a Ca2+-activated K+ channel inhibitor, charybdotoxin, although differential Ca2+ signals were concomitant with each reaction. Nystatin permeabilization studies revealed a good correlation between the Isc and the basolateral K+ current rather than the apical Cl- current under ATP-stimulated conditions. In conclusion, apical and basolateral P2Y1 receptors couple with both phosphatidylcholine-phospholipase C and adenylate cyclase, leading to Cl- secretion, whose rate is essentially regulated by the Ca2+-activated K+ channelmediated K+ conductance. This suggests the importance of this channel in airway mucociliary clearance.
Abbreviations: adenylate cyclase, AC 1,2-bis (o-amino-phenoxy)-ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid tetra-(acetoxymethyl)-ester, BAPTA-AM intracellular Ca2+ concentration, [Ca2+]i cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, CFTR charybdotoxin, ChTx diacylglycerols, DAG human intermediate conductance, inward-rectifying Ca2+-activated K+ channel, hIK-1 channel apical Cl- current, ICl basolateral K+ current, IK short-circuit current, Isc Ca2+-activated K+ channel, KCa channel 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)-benzoate, NPPB phosphate-buffered saline, PBS phosphatidylcholine-phospholipase C, PC-PLC potential difference, PD phosphatidylinositol-phospholipase C, PI-PLC protein kinase C, PKC physiologic saline solution, PSS transepithelial resistance, Rt uridine 5'-triphosphate, UTP
The electrolyte transport system, Na+ absorption and Cl- secretion, across the airway epithelia followed by water movement through the paracellular pathway is essential for the normal mucociliary clearance that maintains the aseptic condition of the respiratory tract (1). Recently, a great deal of attention has been paid to the physiologic role of extracellular ATP and other nucleotides in a wide spectrum of biological responses, including the electrolyte transport through specific receptors called "purinoreceptors" on the outside of the plasma membrane (2). Pharmacologic and molecular biology studies have identified two types of purinoreceptors: P1 and P2. P1 receptors (adenosine receptors) are further subdivided into four types: A1, A2A, A2B, and A3. On the other hand, P2 receptors (ATP receptors) are subclassified as ionotropic P2X receptors and metabotropic P2Y receptors (2). To date, seven mammalian P2X receptors (P2X17), which are ligand-gated monovalent cation channels, and five mammmalian P2Y receptors (P2Y1, P2Y2, P2Y4, P2Y6, P2Y11), which are G proteincoupled receptors, have been cloned (2). Among these receptors, P2Y1, P2Y2, P2Y4, and P2Y6 have been detected in human airway epithelial cells (3, 4). The major roles of extracellular nucleotides bound to the airway P2Y receptors are upregulation of Cl- and mucin secretion as well as ciliary motility (57). Based on this fact, aerosolized nucleotides have been proposed as a potential therapy for mucous congestive diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF) and chronic obstructive lung disease (8). In polarized nasal and pancreatic epithelial cells, nucleotide receptors are located on both apical and basolateral membranes (4, 9). However, notwithstanding much endeavor to clarify the roles of luminal P2Y receptors on airway epithelial cells, little is known regarding the effects of the basolateral P2Y receptors. A recent study has reported that apical and basolateral P2Y (P2Y1 and P2Y2) receptors cooperatively regulate Ca2+ mobilization in nasal epithelial cells (4). In pancreatic duct cells, it has been shown that apical and basolateral P2Y receptors have opposite effects on fluid secretion (9). Thus, the present study was designed to compare the effects of apical and basolateral P2Y-mediated signal transduction pathways linking to transepithelial anion transport, using polarized Calu-3 cells which may be a model of human airway submucosal gland serous cells (10). This cell line expresses abundant cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) Cl- channels on the apical membrane and human intermediate conductance (1031 pS), inward-rectifying Ca2+-activated K+ (hIK-1) channels on the basolateral membrane (1113). Here we demonstrate pharmacologic evidence that application of apical and basolateral ATP induced different types of anion secretion resulting from the distinct behaviors of the hIK-1 channel on the basolateral membrane.
Cell Culture Calu-3 human airway cells (American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, VA) at passages 2935 were grown in a 1:1 mixture of Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium and Ham's F-12 (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) containing 10% fetal bovine serum (Invitrogen), 100 µg/ml streptomycin, and 100 U/ml penicillin (Invitrogen). The cells were incubated in culture flasks (T75) at 37°C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air. When 8090% confluent, cells were detached with a solution of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), 0.04% EDTA, and 0.25% trypsin. The collected cells were passaged with a 1:4 dilution of the same solution and seeded onto porous polyester membranes (0.4-µm pore size on Snapwell inserts [1.1 cm2]; Costar, Cambridge, MA) at a density of 106 cells/well. The Snapwell inserts had been collagen-coated overnight with 0.2% human placental collagen type VI (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO). The day after seeding the cells on the filters, the medium remaining on the apical side was removed to establish an air interface, which markedly improves the differentiation of human airway epithelia in a well-polarized fashion (14). The cells were fed by replacement of the basolateral medium every 48 h. Experiments were performed after 713 d in culture.
Solutions
Bioelectric Studies
Measurement of Apical Cl- Current and Basolateral K+ Current
Measurement of Intracellular Ca2+ Concentration
Reagents
Analysis of Results
Differences between Apical and Basolateral ATP-induced Isc The basal Isc and Rt measured just before addition of ATP were 12.2 ± 0.5 µA/cm2 and 497.1 ± 15.8 cm2 (n = 71), respectively. The Isc responses after addition of apical and basolateral ATP differed markedly in Calu-3 human airway epithelial cells. Namely, application of ATP (100 µM) to the apical face led to a rapid increase in Isc reaching a peak in 13 min followed by a gradual Isc decay (Figure 1A). The peak value from the baseline ( Isc) was 45.3 ± 2.5 µA/cm2 (n = 45), and the value of Isc was reduced to 17.7 ± 1.1 µA/cm2 (n = 45) at 30 min after addition of ATP. On the other hand, basolaterally applied ATP (30 µM) elicited a sharp transient increase in Isc, whose Isc was 206.7 ± 17.1 µA/cm2 (n = 26), followed by a steep fall to the level just above the baseline (Figure 1B). The distinct reactions to ATP applications from either side were abolished by removal of Cl- from the extracellular solutions, suggesting that the responses are totally composed of Cl- secretion (data not shown).
A previous study using RT-PCR to detect subtypes of P2Y receptors reported that only P2Y1 mRNA is expressed in Calu-3 cells (3). As expected, the ATP-induced responses were interrupted by a selective P2Y1 inhibitor (MRS-2179 at 100 µM) or non-selective P2Y blockers (suramin or PPADS at 100 µM) (Figures 1C and 1D). This suggests the involvement of P2Y1-mediated signal transduction in apical and basolateral ATP-induced Cl- secretion. Figure 1E shows the concentration-dependent reactions of ATP-induced Isc. The EC50 values of Isc were 10 µM for apical and 20 µM for basolateral application of ATP. As is evident, the basolateral ATP-induced Isc surpassed the apical one in spite of a much lower sustained component (see Figures 1A and 1B).
Figures 2A and 2B show the effects of extracellular ADP applied from either aspect of the monolayer.
Coupling of the P2Y1 Receptor to Phospholipase C and Adenylate Cyclase Because the type of P2Y receptor seems unlikely to differ between the apical and basolateral membranes, a difference in cytosolic signal transduction is a possibility. To test this hypothesis, ATP-induced responses were observed in the presence of G proteincoupled enzyme inhibitors. As shown in Figures 4A and 4B, Isc responses to apically and basolaterally applied ATP were unaffected by pretreatment with the phosphatidylinositol-phospholipase C (PI-PLC) inhibitors U73122 (100 µM) or ET-18-OCH3 (100 µM, data not shown). In the presence of U73122, the Isc induced by apical and basolateral applications of ATP were 41.8 ± 2.4 µA/cm2 (n = 6) and 178.4 ± 22.0 µA/cm2 (n = 4), respectively. In contrast, the phosphatidylcholine-phospholipase C (PC-PLC) antagonist D609 (100 µM) markedly prevented each ATP-induced response (Figures 4C and 4D). In the presence of this antagonist, the Isc due to apical and basolateral applications of ATP were decreased to 4.5 ± 0.6 (n = 4, P < 0.0001) and 31.1 ± 9.7 µA/cm2 (n = 4, P < 0.001), respectively. On the other hand, preincubation with SQ22536 (1 mM, an adenylate cyclase inhibitor) also significantly inhibited Isc in response to ATP on either side; the Isc by apical and basolateral ATP were 16.9 ± 2.5 (n = 5, P < 0.001) and 73.3 ± 22.7 µA/cm2 (n = 4, P < 0.01), respectively (Figures 4E and 4F).
Ca2+ Dependency of the ATP-Induced Responses The PC-PLCmediated signaling pathway is involved in the formation of diacylglycerols (DAG), whose main physiologic objective is activation of the Ca2+ mobilization pathway and protein kinase C (PKC). To examine the involvement of cytosolic Ca2+ in P2Y1-mediated signal transduction, ATP-induced Isc were followed in the presence of BAPTA-AM (20 µM, bilateral) or ChTx (100 nM, basolateral), resulting in significant reduction by these agents (Figures 5A and 5B). In contrast, pretreatment with PKC inhibitors, chelerythrine (10 µM) or Gö 6,983 (1 µM), for 30 min was without effect on the ATP-induced responses (Figures 5A and 5B). Figures 5C and 5D are representative recordings of [Ca2+]i in response to apical and basolateral ATP. Interestingly, [Ca2+]i was raised in an oscillatory fashion by the apical application of ATP whereas little change was detected due to the application of basolateral ATP (Figures 5C and 5D).
Separate Measurements of Apical ICl and Basolateral IK Figure 6 shows separate measurements of apical ICl and basolateral IK in response to extracellular ATP (apically at 100 µM and basolaterally at 30 µM) in nystatin-permeabilized monolayers. Each application of ATP stimulated similar inward sustained ICl (Figures 6A and 6C). Values of the NPPB (a CFTR blocker)-sensitive ICl in the sustained component of the ATP-induced Isc were 27.6 ± 10.2 (n = 5, in apical ATP) and 35.3 ± 6.6 µA/cm2 (n = 10, in basolateral ATP), which were totally abrogated by the pretreatment with SQ22536 (1 mM, Figures 6B and 6D). On the other hand, extracellular ATP applied from each aspect generated different patterns of outward IK that were prevented by basolateral ChTx (Figures 6E6H). The values of the IK due to apical (13.1 ± 1.3 µA/cm2, n = 7; Figure 6E) and basolateral ATP (48.4 ± 3.5 µA/cm2, n = 6; Figure 6G) were suppressed to 2.8 ± 0.3 µA/cm2 (n = 5, P < 0.05; Figure 6F), and 9.2 ± 0.4 µA/cm2 (n = 4, P < 0.05; Figure 6H), respectively, by ChTx. It is noted that the changes in IK correlated well to that of Isc under ATP-stimulated conditions (see Figure 1).
Several types of P2Y have been widely implicated in anion secretion in airway epithelia in vivo and in vitro (20, 21). The present study demonstrated that access of extracellular ATP to the apical and basolateral membranes generates Cl- secretions with different properties in human airway epithelial Calu-3 cells. The apical ATP evoked an immediate rise in Isc followed by a gradual decay whereas the basolateral ATP caused a transient rise (< 2 min) with a peak 4-fold higher than the apical one. However, the evident differences between the apical and basolateral ATP actions could not be explained by different P2Y subtypes. Indeed, both apical and basolateral ATP-induced responses were blocked by the same P2Y1 antagonists (Figure 1), in agreement with previous data using RT-PCR techniques (3). Of the five mammalian P2Y receptors (P2Y1, P2Y2, P2Y4, P2Y6, P2Y11), the absence of P2Y2, P2Y4, and P2Y6 on the bilateral surfaces of Calu-3 cells was certified by the pharmacologic profiles of the Calu-3 cell monolayer, which failed to respond to UTP and UDP (see Figure 2). In addition, P2Y11 (human) is more sensitive to ATP S than to ATP, and ADP is an ineffective agonist for this receptor (2, 22). The pharmacologic properties of P2Y11 are not consistent with the results in Figures 2 and 3. It is established that ADP, ATP, and ADPßS are effective ligands for the P2Y1 receptor, which is not activated by UDP or UTP. This is in agreement with the pharmacologic properties of Calu-3 demonstrated in the present study. Thus, it is highly possible that the P2Y1-receptor or P2Y1-like receptors are responsible for extracellular ATP-mediated signal transduction both on the apical and basolateral membrane.
In all cells, biological responses to extracellular nucleotides are complicated not only by the presence of various purinergic receptors but also by the rapid ATP catabolism that is caused by ectonucleotidases located on the cell surface (23, 24). High-performance liquid chromatography analysis of nucleotides revealed that liquid sampled from the undisturbed apical surface of Calu-3 epithelia contains ATP, ADP, AMP, and adenosine, of which ADP is most predominant (25). This report suggests that ecto-ATPaseinduced conversion from ATP to ADP is the most frequent and highest activity on the apical surface of Calu-3 cells, although no information is available regarding basolateral ectonucleotidases. However, heterogeneous expression of ectonucleotidases could not account for the differential actions of ATP/ADP because the nonhydrolysable nucleotides ATP According to previous reports, P2Y1 is believed to be associated with Gq/11-coupled PLC (2). PLC is classified into two types: PI-PLC and PC-PLC (26). PI-PLCmediated phospholipid hydrolysis had previously been thought to be the sole mechanism for the production of DAG, which triggers Ca2+ mobilization and PKC activation (27). There are several lines of evidence that P2Y-mediated Ca2+ mobilization is coupled to PI-PLC (2, 23). However, recent investigations have shed light on PC-PLC as an alternative pathway for production of DAG (26). In polarized Calu-3 cells, as shown in Figure 4, apical and basolateral ATP-induced Isc were markedly interrupted by pretreatment with D609, a specific PC-PLC inhibitor, but not by U73122 or ET-18-OCH3, PI-PLC inhibitors. To ensure the results, we extended the exposure time of these PI-PLC inhibitors from 30 min to 4 h, resulting in no significant effect. Thus, these results suggest the possible coupling of P2Y1 receptors with PC-PLC on each membrane. P2Y1-like receptormediated activation of PC-PLC has previously been reported in endothelial cells, although the activation may be caused downstream of PKC (28). Nevertheless, the present study showed that PKC inhibitors like chelerythrine and Gö6983 fail to affect ATP-induced responses, suggesting the direct coupling of P2Y1 with PC-PLC and little contribution of PKC to P2Y1-mediated anion secretion (see Figure 5). The present data show that ATP-induced responses were attenuated not only by a PC-PLC inhibitor but also an adenylate cyclase inhibitor SQ22536, suggesting the bilateral presence of dual coupling to PC-PLC and adenylate cyclase in the P2Y1 receptor on Calu-3 cells. Similar data have been reported for other types of mammalian cells. In mouse ventricular myocytes predominantly expressing P2Y1, stimulation by ATP simultaneously increases cytosolic PKC and adenylate cyclasecAMP-PKA activity through heterotrimeric G protein (29). Recent studies have found that ATP promotes cAMP formation via P2Y coupled to adenylate cyclase in newborn rat type II alveolar cells that express P2Y1 (2, 30). The P2Y11 receptor, which has 33% amino acid identity with the P2Y1 receptor, is dually coupled to both PLC and adenylate cyclase stimulation (31). Both the PC-PLCmediated Ca2+ mobilization and adenylate cyclasemediated cAMP formation are implicated in transepithelial anion transport via different signal transductions (12). Although it is well known that apical CFTR is essential as a Cl- export pathway in Calu-3 cells, basolateral K+ channels, whose activity contributes to the driving force for CFTR-mediated Cl- secretion, also play an important role (12, 15). Cowley and Linsdell (32) have reported that Calu-3 cells express the K+ channel genes KCNN4 (hIK-1 channel), KCNQ1 (KvLQT1), KCNE2, and KCNE3. They concluded that a KCNQ1-containing channel complex, such as KCNQ1-KCNE3, may be involved in cAMP-activated K+ conductance. However, several lines of evidence have shown that most basolateral K+ conductance can be accounted for by the hIK-1 channel because only a small cAMP-activated K+ current, but a much larger hIK-1dependent K+ current, could be identified in the permeabilized Calu-3 monolayer (12, 32). Thus, an increase in [Ca2+]i stimulates Cl- secretion via activation of the hIK-1 channels especially, whereas an increase in cytosolic cAMP concentration ([cAMP]i) activates apical CFTR via protein kinase A (PKA)-dependent mechanisms. If CFTR were activated without opening any basolateral K+ channels, Cl- secretion would subside after transient responses because the equilibrium potential of Cl- is generally close to the resting potential on the apical membrane (12). The present study showed that apical and basolateral ATP-induced Isc were diminished in the presence of a cytosolic Ca2+ chelator (BAPTA-AM) and a selective hIK-1 channel blocker (ChTx). These data suggest that PC-PLCmediated [Ca2+]i elevation and the resultant hIK-1 channel activation are involved in bilateral P2Y1-mediated Cl- secretion in addition to adenylate cyclasecAMP-PKAdependent mechanisms. The Ca2+ dependency of the P2Y1-mediated responses naturally prompted us to anticipate that ATP applied from either side would increase the [Ca2+]i. Unexpectedly, however, fluo-3 signal measurement revealed that apical ATP induced intracellular Ca2+ responses in an oscillatory fashion, whereas basolateral ATP failed to do so. The cause of the unilateral [Ca2+]i mobilization could be explained by the previous reports using other epithelial cells. In pancreatic epithelial cells, an agonist-induced increase in [Ca2+]i is initiated at the apical pole of the cell and is rapidly propagated as a Ca2+ wave toward the basolateral region (33, 34). Ashby and coworkers (35) have demonstrated that local uncaging of caged Ca2+ in the apical granule-containing region of pancreatic acinar cells can trigger cytosolic Ca2+ waves, which spread from the apical region toward the basal membrane, whereas local Ca2+ uncaging in the basolateral region consistently failed to initiate Ca2+ wave. The unidirectional Ca2+ spread is due to the differences between apical and basolateral poles in the distribution of cytosolic Ca2+ store sites (36). The cytosolic Ca2+ wave also occurs in a variety of cell types including airway epithelial cells (4, 37). Considering these reports, we hypothesize that localized Ca2+ rising in the subcellular regions of either membrane due to P2Y1 stimulation may spread as a Ca2+ wave only from the apical to the basolateral pole. Because our experimental system could detect only whole cell [Ca2+]i changes, local transient Ca2+ rises adjacent to the basolateral membrane in response to the basolateral ATP might not be observed in spite of transient activation of the basolaterally-located hIK-1 channel. However, this hypothesis was not directly tested in the present study, and further studies are needed to clarify this point. At any rate, data from fluo-3 signal measurements suggest differential changes in [Ca2+]i, and the resultant activation of the basolateral hIK-1 channel may be relevant to the differential ATP actions. To confirm this point, separate measurements of apical membrane ICl and basolateral membrane IK were conducted in the monolayer permeabilized from each side. Apical ICl measured under the basolateral permeabilized condition reflecting CFTR-mediated Cl- conductance were continuously potentiated by the application of ATP from either side, and these responses were prevented by the pretreatment with SQ22536, as observed in the nonpermeabilized monolayer (see Figure 4). The patterns of the sustained ICl generated by the stimulation of apical and basolateral P2Y1 did not evidently correlate with that of Isc. Instead, there is a good correlation between ATP-induced Isc and IK, suggesting that the hIK-1 channel is a rate controller for bilateral ATP-induced Cl- secretion. The finding that the adenylate cyclase inhibitor, SQ22536, reduces the response to ATP might indicate that the responses are partially mediated by the actions of ATP metabolite adenosine on the A2B receptor that is associated with GS-coupled adenylate cyclase (25). In our preliminary experiments to rule out this possibility, Calu-3 monolayer generated anion secretion in response to adenosine (10 µM) applied to apical but not basolateral side, and the response was unaffected by MRS-2179, a selective P2Y1 antagonist, which completely interrupted ATP-induced Isc (see Figure 1). These observations suggest that ATP-induced responses do not include A2B receptormediated components. Nevertheless, responses to ATP and ADPßS, which were applied to the apical but not to the basolateral solution, were partially inhibited by A2B receptor antagonists, such as alloxazine and 8-(p-sulfophenyl) theophylline, in Calu-3 cells (data not shown). In rat heart, ADPßS-induced responses are similarly inhibited by the A2B receptor antagonists (38). In spite of these complicated data, recent investigations have demonstrated that the A1 and the P2Y1 receptor, both of which are colocalized in the overlap regions, form a heterometric oligomerization that exerts novel pharmacologic and functional characteristics (39). Further, other groups have suggested the presence of adenosine receptorlike P2Y1 receptors in rat type II cells and bovine airway epithelial cells (6, 30). Thus, on the apical membrane of Calu-3 cells where A2B and P2Y1 receptor are colocalized, heterometric assembly of these two receptors might form A2B-like P2Y1 receptors, although this hypothesis is not tested in the present study. Strictly speaking, therefore, extracellular ATP-sensitive receptors on the apical and basolateral membrane may not be completely identical. Overall, Calu-3 cells possess the P2Y1 receptor on both the apical and basolateral membranes, but when activated by nucleotides, apical and basolateral receptors evoked different patterns of Cl- secretion via similar signal transduction pathways that involve both PC-PLC and adenylate cyclase. The difference appears to be due to distinct behaviors of intracellular Ca2+ and the resultantly activated hIK-1 channel on the basolateral membrane (Figure 7). Namely, the Cl- secretory rates after bidirectional P2Y1 stimulations are both regulated by the hIK-1 channelmediated K+ conductance. This indicates the importance of this channel in airway mucociliary clearance regulated by extracellular nucleotides.
This work was supported by Research Grant Funds (#14770272) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan to Y.I. Received in original form May 7, 2003 Received in final form August 2, 2003
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