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Besides being a Ca2+-regulating hormone, parathyroid hormone (PTH) has also been shown to regulate epithelial transport of certain ions, such as Cl−, HCO3−, and Na+, particularly in the kidney. Although the intestinal epithelium also expressed PTH receptors, little was known regarding its mechanism in the regulation of intestinal ion transport. We investigated the ion regulatory role of PTH in intestinal epithelium-like Caco-2 monolayer by Ussing chamber technique and alternating current impedance spectroscopy. It was found that Caco-2 cells rapidly responded to PTH within 1 min by increasing apical HCO3−secretion. CFTR served as the principal route for PTH-stimulated apical HCO3−efflux, which was abolished by various CFTR inhibitors, namely, NPPB, glycine hydrazide-101 (GlyH-101), and CFTRinh-172, as well as by small interfering RNA against CFTR. Concurrently, the plasma membrane resistance was decreased with no changes in the plasma membrane capacitance or paracellular permeability. HCO3−was probably supplied by basolateral uptake via the electrogenic Na+-HCO3−cotransporter and by methazolamide-sensitive carbonic anhydrase, while the resulting intracellular H+might be extruded by both apical and basolateral Na+/H+exchangers. Furthermore, the PTH-stimulated HCO3−secretion was markedly reduced by protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor (PKI 14–22 amide) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitors (wortmannin and LY-294002), but not by intracellular Ca2+chelator (BAPTA-AM) or protein kinase C inhibitor (GF-109203X). In conclusion, the present study provided evidence that PTH directly and rapidly stimulated apical HCO3−secretion through CFTR in PKA- and PI3K-dependent manner, which was a novel noncalciotropic, ion regulatory action of PTH in the intestinal epithelium.

Previous investigations suggested that prolactin (PRL) stimulated the intestinal calcium absorption through phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase C (PKC), and RhoA-associated coiled-coil forming kinase (ROCK) signaling pathways. However, little was known regarding its detailed mechanisms for the stimulation of transcellular and voltage-dependent paracellular calcium transport. By using Ussing chamber technique, we found that the PRL-induced increase in the transcellular calcium flux and decrease in transepithelial resistance of intestinal-like Caco-2 monolayer were not abolished by inhibitors of gene transcription and protein biosynthesis. The PRL-stimulated transcellular calcium transport was completely inhibited by the L-type calcium channel blockers (nifedipine and verapamil) and plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPase (PMCA) inhibitor (trifluoperazine) as well as small interfering RNA targeting voltage-dependent L-type calcium channel Cav1.3, but not TRPV6 or calbindin-D9k. As demonstrated by45Ca uptake study, PI3K and PKC, but not ROCK, were essential for the PRL-enhanced apical calcium entry. In addition, PRL was unable to enhance the transcellular calcium transport after PKCζknockdown or exposure to inhibitors of PKCζ, but not of PKCα, PKCβ, PKCε, PKCμ, or protein kinase A. Voltage-clamping experiments further showed that PRL markedly stimulated the voltage-dependent calcium transport and removed the paracellular rectification. Such PRL effects on paracellular transport were completely abolished by inhibitors of PI3K (LY-294002) and ROCK (Y-27632). It could be concluded that the PRL-stimulated transcellular calcium transport in Caco-2 monolayer was mediated by Cav1.3 and PMCA, presumably through PI3K and PKCζpathways, while the enhanced voltage-dependent calcium transport occurred through PI3K and ROCK pathways.