Protein kinase A activation phosphorylates the rat ClC-2 Cl- channel but does not change activity.

Phosphorylation-dependent events have been shown to modulate the activity of several members of the mammalian CLC Cl- channel gene family, including the inward rectifier ClC-2. In the present study we investigated the regulation of rat ClC-2 expressed in the TSA-201 cell line (a transformed HEK293 cell line that stably expresses the SV40 T-antigen) by protein kinases. Protein kinase A activation phosphorylated ClC-2 in vivo, whereas stimulation of protein kinase C with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate did not. In vitro labeling studies confirmed that protein kinase A could directly phosphorylate ClC-2, and that protein kinase C and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II did not. Nevertheless, protein kinase A-dependent phosphorylation of CLC-2 failed to regulate either the magnitude or the kinetics of the hyperpolarization-activated Cl- currents. Considered together, we demonstrate that protein kinase A activation results in the phosphorylation of rat ClC-2 in vivo, but this event is independent of Cl- channel activity.