Ca(2+)-dependent Cl- channels in undifferentiated human colonic cells (HT-29). I. Single-channel properties.

The patch-clamp technique was combined with camera-based intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) imaging to identify the single-channel basis of the Ca(2+)-dependent Cl- conductance in human colonic adenocarcinoma cells (HT-29). Cl- channels were activated when membrane patches were excised into solutions containing high (1 microM) Ca2+ concentrations. Their single-channel conductance, measured by amplitude histogram analysis, averaged 13 pS at -90 mV and 16 pS at +90 mV membrane potential (MP). In multiple channel patches, Cl- currents showed properties similar to Ca(2+)-activated whole cell currents: outward rectification and time-dependent activation at depolarizing MP. Channel activity disappeared shortly after patch excision from the cell. In cell-attached patches, Cl- channel opening was infrequent at resting [Ca2+]i values (96 +/- 18 nM), but when [Ca2+]i was increased by the Ca2+ ionophore ionomycin (1 microM), Cl- channels were activated with a time course that paralleled the [Ca2+]i rise. Repetitive ionophore exposure produced equivalent rises in [Ca2+]i, but the corresponding Cl- channel activity became progressively reduced. The Ca(2+)-mediated agonist neurotensin (50 nM) elicited a transient Cl- channel activation that preceded the generalized cellular [Ca2+]i rise. Channel activation with neurotensin occurred in the absence of pipette Ca2+ but was abolished by preloading cells with 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid. Thus, in response to the Ca(2+)-mediated agonist neurotensin, Cl- channel activation results from Ca2+ mobilization from intracellular pools localized within the vicinity of the plasma membrane. The Ca2+ dependency, voltage sensitivity, and kinetics of this 15-pS Cl- channel indicate that it is the basis of the whole cell Ca(2+)-activated Cl- current.