Coexpression of Drosophila TRP and TRP-like proteins in Xenopus oocytes reconstitutes capacitative Ca2+ entry.

Capacitative Ca2+ entry is a component of the inositol-lipid signaling in which depletion of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3)-sensitive Ca2+ stores activates Ca2+ influx by a mechanism that is still unknown. This pathway plays a central role in cellular signaling, which is mediated by many hormones, neurotransmitters, and growth factors. Studies of Drosophila photoreceptors provided the first putative capacitative Ca2+ entry mutant designated transient receptor potential (trp) and a Drosophila gene encoding TRP-like protein (trpl). It is not clear how the Ca2+ store depletion signal is relayed to the plasma membrane and whether both TRP and TRPL participate in this process. We report here that coexpressing Drosophila TRP and TRPL in Xenopus oocytes synergistically enhances the endogenous Ca(2+)-activated Cl- current and produces a divalent inward current. Both of these currents are activated by Ca2+ store depletion. In the absence of Ca2+, Mg2+ is the main charge carrier of the divalent current. This current is characterized by lanthanum sensitivity and a voltage-dependent blocking effect of Mg2+, which is relieved at both hyperpolarizing (inward rectification) and depolarizing (outward rectification) potentials. The store-operated divalent current is neither observed in native oocytes nor in oocytes expressing either TRP or TRPL alone. The production of this current implicates a cooperative action of TRP and TRPL in the depletion-activated current.