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The representative morphological features of pyroptosis are excessive cell swelling and subsequent membrane rupture. However, the mechanism underlying the cell's inherent inability to regulate volume during the progression of pyroptosis is poorly understood. In the current study, we found that both volume-activated chloride currents (Icl, vol) and the regulatory volume decrease (RVD) were markedly decreased in bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) undergoing pyroptosis induced by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and nigericin. The inhibition of ICl, vol and RVD by the chloride channel blockers, tamoxifen or DCPIB, led to the emergence of pyroptosis-like phenotypes such as activated-caspase-1, pyroptotic-body-like bubbles, and a fried-egg-like appearance. Moreover, the expression of the volume-activated chloride channel (VRAC) constituent protein Leucine-Rich Repeat-Containing 8A (LRRC8A) was significantly down-regulated in pyroptotic BMDMs treated with LPS and nigericin. The silencing of LRRC8A expression by small interfering RNA (si)-LRRC8A transfection not only reduced ICl, vol and RVD, but also caused BMDMs to show pyroptosis-like manifestations such as activated-caspase-1, membrane bubbles, and have a fried-egg-like appearance. These results reveal a new mechanism for the loss of volume regulation in the process of pyroptotic cell swelling and strongly suggest that a functional deficiency of VRAC/LRRC8A plays a key role in this disorder.

5-Nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)-benzoic acid (NPPB) is a non-specific chloride channel blocker. Peritoneal adhesion is an inevitable complication of abdominal surgery and remains an important clinical problem, leading to chronic pain, intestinal obstruction, and female infertility. The aim of this study is to observe the effects of NPPB on peritoneal adhesions and uncover the underlying mechanism. The formation of postoperative peritoneal adhesions was induced by mechanical injury to the peritoneum of rats. MTT assay and wound-healing assay were used to evaluate proliferation and migration of primary cultured adhesion fibroblasts (AFB) respectively. Whole-cell chloride currents were measured using a fully automated patch-clamp workstation. Cell volume changes were monitored by light microscopy and video imaging. Our results demonstrated that NPPB could significantly prevent the formation of peritoneal adhesion in rats and inhibit the proliferation of AFB in a concentration-dependent manner. NPPB also reduced the migration of AFB cells with an IC50 of 53.09 μM. A 47% hypotonic solution successfully activated the ICl,vol in AFB cells. The current could be blocked by extracellular treatment with NPPB. Moreover, 100 μM NPPB almost completely eliminated the capacity of regulatory volume decrease (RVD) in these cells. These data indicate that NPPB could prevent the formation of postoperative peritoneal adhesions. The possible mechanism may be through the inhibition of the proliferation and migration of AFB cells by modulating ICl,vol and cell volume. These results suggest a potential clinical use of NPPB for preventing the formation of peritoneal adhesions.

// Bin Xu 1,4,* , Xiaobao Jin 1,2,* , Ling Min 5,* , Qin Li 1,2 , Lulu Deng 1,6 , Hui Wu 2 , Guixian Lin 2 , Lixin Chen 3 , Haifeng Zhang 3 , Chunmei Li 2 , Liwei Wang 3 , Jiayong Zhu 1,2 , Weizhang Wang 1,2 , Fujiang Chu 1,2 , Juan Shen 1,4 , Hongzhi Li 2 and Jianwen Mao 1,2 1 Guangdong Key Laboratory for Bioactive Drugs Research, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China 2 School of Basic Medicine, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China 3 Department of Pharmacology and Department of Physiology, Medical College, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China 4 School of Biosciences and Biopharmaceutics, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China 5 Cancer Center of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China 6 Department of Pharmacology, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence: Jianwen Mao, email: // Lixin Chen, email: // Keywords : chloride channel-3, tumor metastasis, membrane ruffling, cell migration Received : September 10, 2014 Accepted : December 10, 2014 Published : December 11, 2014 Abstract The chloride channel-3 (ClC-3) protein is known to be a component of Cl - channels involved in cell volume regulation or acidification of intracellular vesicles. Here, we report that ClC-3 was highly expressed in the cytoplasm of metastatic carcinomatous cells and accelerated cell migration in vitro and tumor metastasis in vivo . High-grade expression of cytoplasmic ClC-3 predicted poor survival in cancer patients. We found that independent of its volume-activated Cl − channel properties, ClC-3 was able to promote cell membrane ruffling, required for tumor metastasis. ClC-3 mediated membrane ruffling by regulating keratin 18 phosphorylation to control β1 Integrin recycling. Therefore, cytoplasmic ClC-3 plays an active and key role in tumor metastasis and may be a valuable prognostic biomarker and a therapeutic target to prevent tumor spread.

Isoprenaline, an activator of β-adrenergic receptor, has been found to induce cardiac hypertrophy in vivo and in vitro, but the exact mechanism is still unclear. ClC-3 is a member of the chloride channel family and is highly expressed in mammalian myocardium. In the present study, the role of ClC-3 in isopronaline-induced cardiac hypertrophy was investigated. We found that ClC-3 expression was reduced in isoprenaline-induced hypertrophic H9c2 cells, primary rat neonatal cardiomyocytes and myocardium of C57/BL/6 mice, and this reduction was prevented by the pretreatment of propranolol. Adeno-associated virus 9 (AAV9)-mediated ClC-3 expression in myocardium decreased heart mass index, thinned interventricular septum and left ventricular wall and lowered the mRNA expression of natriuretic peptide type A (ANF) and β-myosin heavy chain (β-MHC). Our results showed that ClC-3 played an important role in β-adrenergic cardiac hypertrophy which could be associated with ANF and β-MHC, and all these findings suggested that ClC-3 may be a novel therapeutic target for the prevention or treatment of myocardiac hypertrophy.

Cisplatin-based concomitant chemoradiotherapy is considered as the standard treatment for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. However, the curative efficacy of cisplatin-based chemotherapy is limited because of the occurrence of cisplatin resistance. Some researches indicate that activating the volume-sensitive Cl(-) channel might be a new strategy for the reduction of cisplatin resistance. However, little is known about the activation pathway of the Cl(-) channels activated by cisplatin. In this study, the cisplatin-activated chloride current was investigated using the whole cell patch-clamp technique in the poorly differentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells (CNE-2Z cells), and the activation pathway of the current was also discussed. The results showed that extracellular application of cisplatin activated a Cl(-) current, showing the properties of significant outward rectification, intracellular ATP dependency, and a selectivity sequence of I(-) > Br(-) > Cl(-) > gluconate, and being inhibited by the Cl(-) channel inhibitors tamoxifen and extracellular ATP. These characteristics are similar to those of the volume-sensitive Cl(-) current in CNE-2Z cells, indicating that cisplatin induces the Cl(-) current by activating the volume-sensitive like chloride channel. The cisplatin-activated current was blocked by suramin (a wide-spectrum purinergic antagonist) and RB2 (a relatively selective P2Y antagonist). In addition, the current was depressed by extracellular application of apyrase. The apoptotic volume decrease induced by cisplatin was also attenuated by RB2. P2Y receptors were expressed in CNE-2Z cells. These results suggest that cisplatin can induce a Cl(-) current by activating volume-sensitive like Cl(-) channels through the P2Y purinoceptor pathway.

Chloride channel activity is one of the critical factors responsible for cell apoptotic volume decrease (AVD). However, the roles of chloride channels in apoptosis have not been fully understood. In the current study, we assessed the role of chloride channels in hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2))-induced apoptosis of pheochromocytoma cells (PC12). Extracellular application of H(2)O(2) activated a chloride current and induced cell volume decrease in a few minutes. Incubation of cells with H(2)O(2) elevated significantly the membrane permeability to the DNA dye Hoechst 33258 in 1h and induced apoptosis of most PC12 cells tested in 24h. The chloride channel blocker NPPB (5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)-benzoate) prevented appearance of H(2)O(2)-induced high membrane permeability and cell shrinkage, suppressed H(2)O(2)-activated chloride currents and protected PC12 cells from apoptosis induced by H(2)O(2). The results suggest that chloride channels may contribute to H(2)O(2)-induced apoptosis by ways of elevation of membrane permeability and AVD in PC12 cells.

Recent studies suggest that chloride (Cl-) channels regulate tumor cell migration. In this report, we have used antisense oligonucleotides specific for ClC-3, the most likely molecular candidate for the volume-activated Cl- channel, to investigate the role of ClC-3 in the migration of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells (CNE-2Z) in vitro. We found that suppression of ClC-3 expression inhibited the migration of CNE-2Z cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings and image analysis further demonstrated that ClC-3 suppression inhibited the volume-activated Cl- current (I(Cl,vol)) and regulatory volume decrease (RVD) of CNE-2Z cells. The expression of ClC-3 positively correlated with cell migration, I(Cl,vol) and RVD. These results strongly suggest that ClC-3 is a component or regulator of the volume-activated Cl- channel. ClC-3 may regulate CNE-2Z cell migration by modulating cell volume. ClC-3 may be a new target for cancer therapies.

Cell volume regulation is a fundamental activity to maintain cell survival, and aquaporins and chloride channels play important roles in this process. However, the interactions between these channels are far from clear. In this study, the interactions between AQP-3 and ClC-3 were investigated in CNE-1 and CNE-2Z nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells, which are well and poorly differentiated, respectively. The correlation coefficient of AQP-3 and ClC-3 protein phylogenetic trees was 0.319. In CNE-1 cells, there are overlapping distributions of AQP-3 and ClC-3, mainly in the plasma membrane. This was confirmed by the co-immunoprecipitation of AQP-3 and ClC-3, showing that they could be interlinked and form complexes. AQP-3 over-expression had no significant effects on swelling-induced Cl(-) currents (ICl,swell); however, ICl,swell could be inhibited by aquaporin blockers, anti-AQP-3 antibodies and AQP-3-siRNAs. In addition, the AQP-3 expression was decreased by down-regulation of ClC-3 expression, indicating that ClC-3 can modulate the expression of AQP-3 proteins. The effects of aquaporin blockers, anti-AQP-3 antibodies and AQP-3 over-expression on ICl,swell in CNE-2Z cells were consistent with those in CNE-1 cells. In conclusion, AQP-3 and ClC-3 are functionally-related integral membrane channel proteins, and their interactions are involved in cell volume regulation in CNE-1 and CNE-2Z cells. The opening of ClC-3 transports Cl(-) across the cell membrane and then drives the efflux of water through AQP-3 channels and ion channels; AQP-3 may interact with ClC-3 in order to regulate the effluxes of chloride and water.

The functions of chloride channels in preconditioning-induced cell protection remain unclear. In this report, we show that the volume-activated chloride channels play a key role in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) preconditioning-induced cell protection in pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. The preconditioning with 100 μM H2O2 for 90 min protected the cells from injury induced by long period exposure to 300 μM H2O2. The protective effect was attenuated by pretreatment with the chloride channel blockers, 5-nitro-2-3-phenylpropylamino benzoic acid (NPPB) and tamoxifen. H2O2 preconditioning directly activated a chloride current, which was moderately outward-rectified and sensitive to the chloride channel blockers and hypertonicity-induced cell shrinkage. H2O2 preconditioning functionally up-regulated the activities of volume-activated chloride channels and enhanced the regulatory volume decrease when exposure to extracellular hypotonic challenges. In addition, acute application of H2O2 showed distinctive actions on cell volume and membrane permeability in H2O2 preconditioned cells. In H2O2 preconditioned cells, acute application of 300 μM H2O2 first promptly induced a decrease of cell volume and enhancement of cell membrane permeability, and then, cell volume was maintained at a relatively stable level and the facilitation of membrane permeability was reduced. Conversely, in control cells, 300 μM H2O2 induced a slow but persistent apoptotic volume decrease (AVD) and facilitation of membrane permeability. H2O2 preconditioning also significantly up-regulated the expression of ClC-3 protein, the molecular candidate of the volume-activated chloride channel. These results suggest that H2O2 preconditioning can enhance the expression and functional activities of volume-activated chloride channels, thereby modulate cell volume and cell membrane permeability, which may contribute to neuroprotection against oxidant-induced injury.

It has been demonstrated previously by us that cyclin D1 and ClC-3 play important roles in regulation of the cell cycle in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. The action of cyclin D1 on the functional activities and expression of chloride channels were investigated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE-2Z cells in this study. The results indicated that enhanced cyclin D1 expression increased the activation of volume-activated chloride currents and promoted the expression of ClC-3 chloride channel proteins. The fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) experiments demonstrated that the distance between cyclin D1 and ClC-3 was less than 10nm, and there existed interaction between the two proteins. ClC-3 was partially colocalized with cyclin D1 and CDK4/6. Dialyzing CDK4 antibodies into cells via recording pipettes activated a chloride current, but dialysis of CDK6 antibodies inhibited basal and volume-activated Cl(-) currents. The CDK4/6 inhibitor fascaplysin chloride hydrate (highly selective for CDK4/cyclin D1 with IC(50) = 0.35 μM and less selective for CDK6/D1 with IC(50) = 3.4 μM) activated a chloride current in low concentration, but did not show significantly facilitative effects on the current in high concentration. In conclusion, our data suggest that the ClC-3 chloride channel is an important target of cyclin D1. Cyclin D1 may regulate the functional activities of the chloride channel via CDK4 and CDK6, and/or the expression of the chloride channel. Cyclin D1-CDK4 complexes may phosphorylate chloride channels resulting in inhibition or inactivation of the channels, and cyclin D1-CDK6 complexes may facilitate the activation of chloride channels.

Volume-activated chloride channels have been studied by us extensively in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. However, the chloride channels in the counterpart of the carcinoma cells have not been investigated. In this study, volume-activated chloride currents (I(cl,vol)) were characterized in normal fetal human nasopharyngeal epithelial cells using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Under isotonic conditions, nasopharyngeal epithelial cells displayed only a weak background current. Exposure to 47% hypotonic solution activated a volume-sensitive current. The reversal potential of the current was close to the calculated equilibrium potential for Cl(-). The peak values of the hypotonicity-activated current at +80 mV ranged from 0.82 to 2.71 nA in 23 cells. Further analysis indicated that the density of the hypotonicity-activated current in most cells (18/23) was smaller than 60 pA/pF. Only five cells presented a current larger than 60 pA/pF. The hypotonicity-activated current was independent of the exogenous ATP. Chloride channel inhibitors ATP, tamoxifen and 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino) benzoic acid (NPPB), inhibited the current dramatically. The anion permeability of the hypotonicity-activated chloride channels was I(-)Br(-)Cl(-)gluconate. Unexpectedly, in isotonic conditions, ATP (10 mM) activated an inward-rectified current, which had not been observed in the nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. These results suggest that, under hypotonic challenges, fetal human nasopharyngeal epithelial cells can produce I(cl,vol), which might be involved in cell volume regulation.

We have previously shown that chloride channel activities were cell cycle-dependent and were involved in cell proliferation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. In this study, the expression and roles of volume-activated chloride channels in cell growth were investigated in the poorly-differentiated human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell (CNE-2Z) and its counterpart, the normal human nasopharyngeal epithelial cell (NP69-SV40T). Consistent with growth ability, the background chloride currents recorded under isotonic condition, the volume-activated chloride currents induced by 47% hypotonic challenges and the hyponinicity-induced regulatory volume decrease (RVD) were much larger in CNE-2Z cells than in NP69-SV40T cells, suggesting the up-regulation of expression of volume-activated chloride channels in cancerous cells. This was proved by the up-regulation of ClC-3 proteins, a candidate of volume-activated chloride channels, in the cancerous cells. Functional inhibition of chloride channel activities by the chloride channel blockers, 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)benzoic acid (NPPB) and tamoxifen, and knock-down of ClC-3 expression by specific ClC-3 siRNA attenuated the background currents, suppressed the activation of volume-activated chloride currents, decreased the hyponinicity-induced RVD and inhibited cell growth in the cancerous and normal cells. However, the sensitivities of the cancerous cells were much higher than that of the normal cells. Our data suggest that volume-activated chloride channels play a more important role in control cell proliferation in the cancerous cells than in the normal cells; the growth of cancerous cells is more dependent on the activities of volume-activated chloride channels than that of the normal cells. ClC-3 protein may be considered as a potential tumor marker and therapeutic target for human nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

ClC-3, a gene encoding a candidate protein for volume-activated chloride (C(-)) channels, may be involved in tumor development. Herein we report a study using an antisense "knock-down" strategy to investigate the mechanism by which ClC-3 affects cell proliferation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE-2Z cells. With immunoblots and MTT assays we demonstrated that the expression of ClC-3 was cell cycle dependent and in a similar concentration-dependent manner, an antisense oligonucleotide specific for ClC-3 inhibited ClC-3 protein expression and cell proliferation. The expression level of ClC-3 correlated with cell proliferation. Moreover, in the cells exposed to a ClC-3 antisense oligonucleotide, the cloning efficiency was inhibited, and cells were arrested in the S phase. The ClC-3 antisense oligonucleotide inhibited the volume-activated C(-) current (I(Cl,vol)) and the regulatory volume decrease (RVD) in a concentration-dependent manner. Additionally, the I(Cl,vol) or RVD was positively correlated with cell proliferation in the treated cells. In conclusion, ClC-3 is involved in cell proliferation and cell cycle progression through a mechanism involving modulation of I(Cl,vol) and RVD. CIC-3 may represent a therapeutic target in human cancer.

The activation of volume-activated chloride Cl(-) channels has been implicated to play important roles in modulating cell cycle and cell migration. The aim of this study was to determine whether volume-activated Cl(-) channels are involved in cell-cycle-dependent regulation of cell migration in HeLa cells. Using techniques including cell-cycle synchronization, transwell migration assays and the patch-clamp technique, we demonstrate in this study that both the expression of volume-activated chloride current (I(Cl,vol)) and the potential of cell migration are cell-cycle-dependent; specifically, these events were high in G(0)/G(1) phase, low in S phase, and medium in G(2)/M phase. Moreover, the mean density of I(Cl,vol) was positively correlated to the rate of cell migration during cell-cycle progression. Additionally, endogenous suppression of I(Cl,vol) by transfecting cells with ClC-3 antisense oligonucleotides arrested cells in S phase and slowed cell migration. Collectively, our results suggest that volume-activated Cl(-) channels contribute to the cell-cycle-dependent regulation of cell migration.

Cell migration is crucial for tumor metastasis. Membrane ion channels may play a major role in tumor cell migration because the cells must undergo changes in shape and volume during migration. In the present study, we used the transwell migration assay, an in vitro model for cell migration, and the patch-clamp technique to investigate the role of the volume-activated Cl(-) current (I(cl,vol)) in the regulation of the migration of nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE-2Z cells. 5-Nitro-2- (3-phenylpropylamino) benzoic acid (NPPB) inhibited the I(cl,vol) and the migration of CNE-2Z cells with almost identical dose-dependent pattern (IC(50) of 98.1 microM and 97.7 microM for I(cl,vol) and cell migration, respectively). Extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) also showed similar dose-dependent inhibitory effects on the currents and migration (IC(50) of 1.07mM, and 1.11mM for I(cl,vol) and cell migration, respectively). Hypotonic treatments, which activated I(cl,vol), increased cell migration. Exposure to hypertonic solutions, which was shown to suppress I(cl,vol), inhibited cell migration. Replacement of Cl(-) with gluconate, which is relatively chloride channel-impermeable, impaired cell migration, whereas substitution of Cl(-) by I(-) and Br(-), the chloride channel-permeable ions, did not significantly affect cell migration. Analysis of the effects of all the above treatments on I(cl,vol) and cell migration indicated that the inhibition of migration was positively correlated with the blockage of I(cl,vol), with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.97, suggesting a functional relationship between I(cl,vol) and cell migration. These data suggest that the volume-activated Cl(-) channels are involved in cell migration.