Hanrahan, John W.

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) Cl− channel activity declines rapidly when excised from transfected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) or human airway cells because of membrane-associated phosphatase activity. In the present study, we found that CFTR channels usually remained active in patches excised from baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells overexpressing CFTR. Those patches with stable channel activity were used to investigate the regulation of CFTR by exogenous protein phosphatases (PP). Adding PP2A, PP2C, or alkaline phosphatase to excised patches reduced CFTR channel activity by >90% but did not abolish it completely. PP2B caused weak deactivation, whereas PP1 had no detectable effect on open probability ( P o). Interestingly, the time course of deactivation by PP2C was identical to that of the spontaneous rundown observed in some patches after excision. PP2C and PP2A had distinct effects on channel gating; P o declined during exposure to exogenous PP2C (and during spontaneous rundown, when it was observed) without any change in mean burst duration. By contrast, deactivation by exogenous PP2A was associated with a dramatic shortening of burst duration similar to that reported previously in patches from cardiac cells during deactivation of CFTR by endogenous phosphatases. Rundown of CFTR-mediated current across intact T84 epithelial cell monolayers was insensitive to toxic levels of the PP2A inhibitor calyculin A. These results demonstrate that exogenous PP2C is a potent regulator of CFTR activity, that its effects on single-channel gating are distinct from those of PP2A but similar to those of endogenous phosphatases in CHO, BHK, and T84 epithelial cells, and that multiple protein phosphatases may be required for complete deactivation of CFTR channels.

Protein kinase C (PKC) phosphorylation stimulates the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) channel and enhances its activation by protein kinase A (PKA) through mechanisms that remain poorly understood. We have examined the effects of mutating consensus sequences for PKC phosphorylation and report here evidence for both stimulatory and inhibitory sites. Sequences were mutated in subsets and the mutants characterized by patch clamping. Activation of a 4CA mutant (S707A/S790A/T791A/S809A) by PKA was similar to that of wild-type CFTR and was enhanced by PKC, whereas responses of 3CA (T582A/T604A/S641A) and 2CA (T682A/S686A) channels to PKA were both drastically reduced (>90%). When each mutation in the 3CA and 2CA constructs was studied individually in a wild-type background, T582, T604, and S686 were found to be essential for PKA activation. Responses were restored when these three residues were reintroduced simultaneously into a 9CA mutant lacking all nine PKC consensus sequences (R6CA revertant); however, PKC phosphorylation was not required for this rescue. Nevertheless, two of the sites (T604 and S686) were phosphorylated in vitro , and PKC alone partially activated wild-type CFTR, the 4CA mutant, and the point mutants T582A and T604A, but not S686A channels, indicating that PKC does act at S686. The region encompassing S641 and T682 is inhibitory, because S641A enhanced activation by PKA, and T682A channels had 4-fold larger responses to PKC compared to wild-type channels. These results identify functionally important PKC consensus sequences on CFTR and will facilitate studies of its convergent regulation by PKC and PKA.

Permeability of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) chloride channel to polyatomic anions of known dimensions was studied in stably transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells by using the patch clamp technique. Biionic reversal potentials measured with external polyatomic anions gave the permeability ratio (PX/PCl) sequence NO3− > Cl− > HCO3− > formate > acetate. The same selectivity sequence but somewhat higher permeability ratios were obtained when anions were tested from the cytoplasmic side. Pyruvate, propanoate, methane sulfonate, ethane sulfonate, and gluconate were not measurably permeant (PX/PCl < 0.06) from either side of the membrane. The relationship between permeability ratios from the outside and ionic diameters suggests a minimum functional pore diameter of ∼5.3 Å. Permeability ratios also followed a lyotropic sequence, suggesting that permeability is dependent on ionic hydration energies. Site-directed mutagenesis of two adjacent threonines in TM6 to smaller, less polar alanines led to a significant (24%) increase in single channel conductance and elevated permeability to several large anions, suggesting that these residues do not strongly bind permeating anions, but may contribute to the narrowest part of the pore.