Regulation of CFTR channels by HCO3−-sensitive soluble adenylyl cyclase in human airway epithelial cells
CFTR channels conduct HCO3− in addition to Cl− in airway epithelial cells. A defective HCO3−-transporting function of CFTR may underlie the pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis. In the present study, we have investigated whether a HCO3−-sensitive soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) is functionally coupled with CFTR and thus forms an autoregulatory mechanism for HCO3− transport in human airway epithelial Calu-3 cells. A reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction showed that transcripts of both full-length and truncated sACs are present in Calu-3 cells. Truncated sAC protein is the predominant, if not the only, isoform expressed in Calu-3 cells. HCO3− stimulated a modest increase in cAMP production, and the increase was sensitive to 2-hydroxyestradiol (2-HE), a sAC inhibitor, but not to SQ22,536, a blocker of conventional transmembrane adenylyl cyclases. These results suggest that sAC is functional in Calu-3 cells. Adding 25 mM HCO3− to the bath stimulated CFTR-mediated whole cell currents in the absence, but not in the presence, of 2-HE. In cell-attached membrane patches, 25 or 50 mM HCO3− in the bath markedly increased the product of channel number and open probability of CFTR, and this activation was attenuated by 2-HE. These findings demonstrate that sAC signaling pathway is involved in the regulation of CFTR function in human airway epithelium and thereby provides a link between the level of intracellular HCO3−/CO2 and the modulation of HCO3−-conductive CFTR function by cAMP/PKA.