“Store-operated” cAMP signaling contributes to Ca2+-activated Cl− secretion in T84 colonic cells

Abstract

Apical cAMP-dependent CFTR Cl− channels are essential for efficient vectorial movement of ions and fluid into the lumen of the colon. It is well known that Ca2+-mobilizing agonists also stimulate colonic anion secretion. However, CFTR is apparently not activated directly by Ca2+, and the existence of apical Ca2+-dependent Cl− channels in the native colonic epithelium is controversial, leaving the identity of the Ca2+-activated component unresolved. We recently showed that decreasing free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]) within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lumen elicits a rise in intracellular cAMP. This process, which we termed “store-operated cAMP signaling” (SOcAMPS), requires the luminal ER Ca2+ sensor STIM1 and does not depend on changes in cytosolic Ca2+. Here we assessed the degree to which SOcAMPS participates in Ca2+-activated Cl− transport as measured by transepithelial short-circuit current ( Isc) in polarized T84 monolayers in parallel with imaging of cAMP and PKA activity using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based reporters in single cells. In Ca2+-free conditions, the Ca2+-releasing agonist carbachol and Ca2+ ionophore increased Isc, cAMP, and PKA activity. These responses persisted in cells loaded with the Ca2+ chelator BAPTA-AM. The effect on Isc was enhanced in the presence of the phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), inhibited by the CFTR inhibitor CFTRinh-172 and the PKA inhibitor H-89, and unaffected by Ba2+ or flufenamic acid. We propose that a discrete component of the “Ca2+-dependent” secretory activity in the colon derives from cAMP generated through SOcAMPS. This alternative mode of cAMP production could contribute to the actions of diverse xenobiotic agents that disrupt ER Ca2+ homeostasis, leading to diarrhea.