Interaction between store-operated non-selective cation channels and the Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchanger during secretion in the rat colon.

The properties of capacitative Ca(2+) influx were studied using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique in crypts isolated from rat distal colon. Store-operated cation influx was evoked by increasing the intracellular buffering capacity for Ca(2+) in the pipette solution; contamination by Cl(-) currents was reduced by the use of NMDG gluconate as the main electrolyte in the pipette solution. The permeability of the non-selective cation conductance stimulated by store depletion had the following sequence for monovalent cations: Cs(+) > Na(+) > or = Li(+). The store-operated conductance is permeable to Na(+) and Ca(2+), but in contrast to Na(+), Ca(2+) also exerts a (feedback) inhibition on its own influx. Other divalent cations shared this inhibitory action with the sequence: Ca(2+) > or = Mg(2+) > or = Ba(2+) > or = Sr(2+). Fura-2 experiments revealed that replacement of extracellular Na(+) by NMDG(+) induced an increase in the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration, which was suppressed by the Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchange inhibitor, dichlorobenzamil, indicating the presence of a Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchanger within the colonic crypt cells. In Ussing chamber experiments dichlorobenzamil induced an increase in short-circuit current (I(sc)) in the majority of tissues tested indicating that this exchanger acts as a Ca(2+)-extruding transporter under physiological conditions. When Ca(2+)-dependent anion secretion was stimulated by the acetylcholine analogue carbachol, dichlorobenzamil no longer evoked an increase in I(sc), indicating that after stimulation of the store-operated cation conductance the Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchanger is turned off. Therefore, it is concluded that the influx of Na(+) across the non-selective store-operated cation conductance serves to reduce the driving force for Ca(2+) extrusion via the Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchanger and thereby maintains the increase in the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration during induction of secretion. Experimental Physiology (2001) 86.4, 461-468.