The short-circuit current technique was used to examine the effects of N 2-l-lysylbradykinin (LBK) on chloride secretion in the mucosae of the mouse intestine. It was found to be a potent chloride secretagogue in the mucosa lining the colon, jejunum, and cecum, as it is in most mammals, with 2 nM being sufficient to cause half-maximal secretion. The extent of the responses was in the order cecu...

Objective: In a previous work, we showed that asafoetida essential oil (AEO), from oleo-gum resin of Ferula asafoetida L. from the Apiaceae family, has a vasodilatory effect. This effect was both endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent. The present study was designed to determine whether potassium channels and intracellular calcium release contribute to AEO-i...

In the mature brain, the neurotransmitter GABA can cause a postsynaptic hyperpolarization via activation of chloride permeant GABAA receptor channels. This hyperpolarizing response critically depends on chloride extrusion via the KCl-cotransporter KCC2 [1]. Its knockdown in mice impairs synaptic inhibition by changing the electrochemical potential for chloride and thus increases neuronal excita...

Together, acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) and epithelial sodium channels (ENaC) constitute the majority of voltage-independent sodium channels in mammals. ENaC is regulated by a chloride channel, the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). Here we show that ASICs were reversibly inhibited by activation of GABA(A) receptors in murine hippocampal neurons. This inhibition of ...

Synaptic inhibition by GABA(A) receptors requires a transmembrane chloride gradient. Hyperpolarization or shunting results from outward current produced by chloride flowing down this gradient, into the cell. Chloride influx necessarily depletes the chloride gradient. Therefore, mechanisms that replenish the gradient (by reducing intracellular chloride concentration, [Cl(-)](i)) are crucial for ...

Multiple sodium and chloride channels on the apical surface of nasal epithelial cells contribute to periciliary fluid homeostasis, a function that is disrupted in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Among these channels is the chloride channel CLCN2, which has been studied as a potential alternative chloride efflux pathway in the absence of CFTR. The object of the present study was to use the n...

Chloride channels represent a group of targets for major clinical indications. However, molecular screening for chloride channel modulators has proven to be difficult and time-consuming as approaches essentially rely on the use of fluorescent dyes or invasive patch-clamp techniques which do not lend themselves to the screening of large sets of compounds. To address this problem, we have develop...