A fluid secretion pathway unmasked by acinar-specific Tmem16A gene ablation in the adult mouse salivary gland

MA Catalán, Y Kondo… - Proceedings of the …, 2015 - National Acad Sciences
MA Catalán, Y Kondo, G Peña-Munzenmayer, Y Jaramillo, F Liu, S Choi, E Crandall…
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015National Acad Sciences
Activation of an apical Ca2+-activated Cl− channel (CaCC) triggers the secretion of saliva. It
was previously demonstrated that CaCC-mediated Cl− current and Cl− efflux are absent in
the acinar cells of systemic Tmem16A (Tmem16A Cl− channel) null mice, but salivation was
not assessed in fully developed glands because Tmem16A null mice die within a few days
after birth. To test the role of Tmem16A in adult salivary glands, we generated conditional
knockout mice lacking Tmem16A in acinar cells (Tmem16A−/−). Ca2+-dependent salivation …
Activation of an apical Ca2+-activated Cl channel (CaCC) triggers the secretion of saliva. It was previously demonstrated that CaCC-mediated Cl current and Cl efflux are absent in the acinar cells of systemic Tmem16A (Tmem16A Cl channel) null mice, but salivation was not assessed in fully developed glands because Tmem16A null mice die within a few days after birth. To test the role of Tmem16A in adult salivary glands, we generated conditional knockout mice lacking Tmem16A in acinar cells (Tmem16A−/−). Ca2+-dependent salivation was abolished in Tmem16A−/− mice, demonstrating that Tmem16A is obligatory for Ca2+-mediated fluid secretion. However, the amount of saliva secreted by Tmem16A−/− mice in response to the β-adrenergic receptor agonist isoproterenol (IPR) was comparable to that seen in controls, indicating that Tmem16A does not significantly contribute to cAMP-induced secretion. Furthermore, IPR-stimulated secretion was unaffected in mice lacking Cftr (Cftr∆F508/∆F508) or ClC-2 (Clcn2−/−) Cl channels. The time course for activation of IPR-stimulated fluid secretion closely correlated with that of the IPR-induced cell volume increase, suggesting that acinar swelling may activate a volume-sensitive Cl channel. Indeed, Cl channel blockers abolished fluid secretion, indicating that Cl channel activity is critical for IPR-stimulated secretion. These data suggest that β-adrenergic–induced, cAMP-dependent fluid secretion involves a volume-regulated anion channel. In summary, our results using acinar-specific Tmem16A−/− mice identify Tmem16A as the Cl channel essential for muscarinic, Ca2+-dependent fluid secretion in adult mouse salivary glands.
National Acad Sciences