Tweety-homolog (Ttyh) Family Encodes the Pore-forming Subunits of the Swelling-dependent Volume-regulated Anion Channel (VRAC(swell)) in the Brain
- Author:
Young Eun HAN
1
;
Jea KWON
;
Joungha WON
;
Heeyoung AN
;
Minwoo Wendy JANG
;
Junsung WOO
;
Je Sun LEE
;
Min Gu PARK
;
Bo Eun YOON
;
Seung Eun LEE
;
Eun Mi HWANG
;
Jae Young JUNG
;
Hyungju PARK
;
Soo Jin OH
;
C Justin LEE
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Volume-regulated anion channel; VRAC; Tweety-homolog; Ttyh; Volume regulation
- MeSH: Arginine; Astrocytes; Brain; Cytoplasm; Glutamic Acid; Humans; Osmolar Concentration; Permeability
- From:Experimental Neurobiology 2019;28(2):183-215
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: In the brain, a reduction in extracellular osmolality causes water-influx and swelling, which subsequently triggers Cl⁻- and osmolytes-efflux via volume-regulated anion channel (VRAC). Although LRRC8 family has been recently proposed as the pore-forming VRAC which is activated by low cytoplasmic ionic strength but not by swelling, the molecular identity of the pore-forming swelling-dependent VRAC (VRAC(swell)) remains unclear. Here we identify and characterize Tweety-homologs (TTYH1, TTYH2, TTYH3) as the major VRAC(swell) in astrocytes. Gene-silencing of all Ttyh1/2/3 eliminated hypo-osmotic-solution-induced Cl⁻ conductance (I(Cl,swell)) in cultured and hippocampal astrocytes. When heterologously expressed in HEK293T or CHO-K1 cells, each TTYH isoform showed a significant I(Cl,swell) with similar aquaporin-4 dependency, pharmacological properties and glutamate permeability as I(Cl,swell) observed in native astrocytes. Mutagenesis-based structure-activity analysis revealed that positively charged arginine residue at 165 in TTYH1 and 164 in TTYH2 is critical for the formation of the channel-pore. Our results demonstrate that TTYH family confers the bona fide VRAC(swell) in the brain.
