Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) receptor controls a pathway supporting the differentiation and survival of a wide range of neural cell types during development and in adulthood. Cardiotrophin-like cytokine (CLC)-cytokine-like factor 1 (CLF) composite cytokine is a second ligand for the CNTF alpha-component receptor (CNTFRalpha). This composite cytokine is built on the structural model of IL-...

During maturation of oocytes, Cl(-) conductance (G(Cl)) oscillates and intracellular pH (pH(i)) increases. Elevating pH(i) permits the protein synthesis essential to maturation. To examine whether changes in G(Cl) and pH(i) are coupled, the Cl(-) channel ClC-0 was heterologously expressed. Overexpressing ClC-0 elevates pH(i), decreases intracellular Cl(-) concentration ([Cl(-)](i)), and reduces...

Many bacterial species protect themselves against environmental F(-) toxicity by exporting this anion from the cytoplasm via CLC(F) F(-)/H(+) antiporters, a subclass of CLC superfamily anion transporters. Strong F(-) over Cl(-) selectivity is biologically essential for these membrane proteins because Cl(-) is orders of magnitude more abundant in the biosphere than F(-). Sequence comparisons rev...

CLC-5 plays a critical role in the process of endocytosis in the proximal tubule of the kidney and mutations that alter protein function are the cause of Dent's I disease. In this X-linked disorder impaired reabsorption results in the wasting of calcium and low molecular weight protein to the urine, kidney stones, and progressive renal failure. Several different ion-transporting and protein clu...

The immunofluorescence approach, the confocal microscopy and the patch-clamp technique were used to investigate the expression of ClC-3 (one of the candidates of volume-activated chloride channels) and its relationships with the volume-activated chloride current and the capacity of regulatory volume decrease (RVD) in the cell cycle of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells (CNE-2Z cells). The results i...

Thyroid hormones has its main role in controlling metabolism, but it can also modulate extracellular fluid Volume (ECFV) through its action on the expression and activity of Na(+) transporters. Otherwise, chloride is the main anion in the ECFV and the influence of thyroid hormones in the regulation of chloride transporters is not yet understood. In this work, we studied the effect of thyroid ho...

Mutations in the ClC-7/Ostm1 ion transporter lead to osteopetrosis and lysosomal storage disease. Its lysosomal localization hitherto precluded detailed functional characterization. Using a mutated ClC-7 that reaches the plasma membrane, we now show that both the aminoterminus and transmembrane span of the Ostm1 β-subunit are required for ClC-7 Cl(-)/H(+)-exchange, whereas the Ostm1 transmembra...

A broadband cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) device with a multi-domain structure is demonstrated by using an aggregation of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) nanoparticles in the CLC layer. The aggregation pattern of the self-assembled POSS nanoparticles depends on the concentration of POSS doped in the mixture of POSS/CLC and the cooling rate of the mixture from a temperature higher...

Cuppoletti, John, Danuta H. Malinowska, Kirti P. Tewari, Qiu-ju Li, Ann M. Sherry, Myra L. Patchen, and Ryuji Ueno. SPI-0211 activates T84 cell chloride transport and recombinant human ClC-2 chloride currents. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 287: C1173– C1183, 2004. First published June 22, 2004; doi:10.1152/ajpcell. 00528.2003.—The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanism of action of SP...

The development of an ion regulatory mechanism for body fluid homeostasis was an important trait for vertebrates during the evolution from aquatic to terrestrial life. The homeostatic mechanism of Cl(-) in aquatic fish appears to be similar to that of terrestrial vertebrates; however, the mechanism in non-mammalian vertebrates is poorly understood. Unlike in mammals, in which the kidney plays a...