Multiple modes of regulation of airway epithelial chloride secretion by extracellular ATP

Cultured normal and cystic fibrosis (CF) airway epithelia were exposed to 5'-(N-ethylcarboxamido)-adenosine (NECA), ATP, or ionomycin. NECA activated a sustained 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene 2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS)-insensitive Cl^- secretory response in normal but not CF, consistent with stimulation of the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). In normal and CF, ionomycin or ATP induced Cl^- secretion with an initial peak that was inhibited > 50% by DIDS, but in normals there was a prolonged current that was not inhibited by DIDS. The ATP and ionomycin responses in CF were of greater magnitude, and the prolonged phase was inhibited by DIDS. Although we expected ATP to regulate Cl^- conductance through intracellular Ca²⁺ activity, ATP further stimulated Cl^- secretion in tissues pretreated to maximally elevate intracellular Ca²⁺ activity. ATP also activated whole cell Cl^- currents in cells dialyzed with 10 mM ethylene glycol-bis(β- aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid. Thus ATP and ionomycin regulate a Cl^- conductance that is distinct from CFTR, but the regulation by ATP is not tightly coupled to intracellular Ca²⁺ activity. Alternatively, ATP regulates separate Ca²⁺-sensitive and Ca²⁺-insensitive Cl^- conductances. Furthermore, extracellular ATP activates DIDS-resistant Cl^- secretion in normal but not CF cultured epithelia consistent with activation of CFTR by extracellular ATP.