Molecular mechanism of product storage and release in mucin secretion. II. The role of extracellular Ca++.

Mucin-containing granules, produced by mammalian goblet cells in vitro, undergo massive post-exocytotic swelling (23). Their swelling kinetics are similar to the swelling of condensed artificial polymer gels (22). Earlier, we proposed that mucins are condensed in the secretory granule and expand by swelling during or after exocytosis (21). The swelling of mucus is affected by ionic influences, as it is governed by a Donnan equilibrium process (21). However, the effect of cations on the swelling of newly released mucins had not yet been investigated. Calcium has been found in high concentration inside secretory granules of mucin-secreting cells (18, 9, 25), and is also elevated in the mucus of cystic fibrosis patients (17). The present experiments were designed to study the effect of extracellular Ca++ concentration on the swelling kinetics of the newly released secretory product of respiratory goblet cells in vitro. The data show that extracellular Ca++, in concentrations similar to those found in the mucus of cystic fibrosis patients (2 to 4 mM) can produce a four-fold decrease in the diffusivity of the newly released mucin polymer network, resulting in a slow rate of swelling, and a mucus that remains thick for long periods of time. The present findings are in agreement with the Donnan equilibrium hypothesis for the regulation of mucus swelling and rheology (21), and bear important implications for the pathophysiology of cystic fibrosis.