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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1991 Sep 1;88(17):7500–7504. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.17.7500

cAMP-inducible chloride conductance in mouse fibroblast lines stably expressing the human cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator.

J M Rommens 1, S Dho 1, C E Bear 1, N Kartner 1, D Kennedy 1, J R Riordan 1, L C Tsui 1, J K Foskett 1
PMCID: PMC52328  PMID: 1715567

Abstract

A cAMP-inducible chloride permeability has been detected in mouse fibroblast (L cell) lines upon stable integration of a full-length cDNA encoding the human cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). As indicated by a Cl(-)-indicator dye, the Cl- permeability of the plasma membrane increases by 10- to 30-fold within 2 min after treatment of the cells with forskolin, an activator of adenylyl cyclase. The properties of the conductance are similar to those described in secretory epithelial cells; the whole-cell current-voltage relationship is linear and there is no evidence of voltage-dependent inactivation or activation. In contrast, this cAMP-dependent Cl- flux is undetectable in the untransfected cells or cells harboring defective cDNA constructs, including one with a phenylalanine deletion at amino acid position 508 (delta F508), the most common mutation causing cystic fibrosis. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the CFTR is a cAMP-dependent Cl- channel. The availability of a heterologous (nonepithelial) cell type expressing the CFTR offers an excellent system to understand the basic mechanisms underlying this CFTR-associated ion permeability and to study the structure and function of the CFTR.

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Selected References

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