title: Hyaluronan activates calcium-dependent chloride currents in Xenopus oocytes.
abstract: Hyaluronan (5 mg/ml) activated an oscillatory inward current of up to 200 nA in oocytes held voltage-clamped at -60 mV. The reversal potential of the current was -25 +/- 1 mV (n = 5), close to the Cl- equilibrium potential for oocytes. The response was dose-dependent over the concentration range 0.2-10 mg/ml, independent of external Ca2+, but abolished by injection of EGTA, a Ca2+ chelator. In addition, hyaluronan sensitivity in oocytes was seasonal with 91% of the responses occurring between June and December. Pre-heating hyaluronan to > 50 degrees C reduced the response; at 70-85 degrees C the response was lost. Cooling the heated hyaluronan, however, restored the activity. Hyaluronan which had been previously digested with 10 mg/ml hyaluronidase for 1-7 h (at 37 degrees C) activated smaller currents: for digestions > 7 h the current-activating ability of hyaluronan was abolished. The results are discussed in relation to possible signal transduction pathways involving hyaluronan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK. s.p.fraser@ic.ac.uk
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Fraser
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology*; D018118:Chloride Channels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007424:Intracellular Fluid / Q000502:physiology; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000187:drug effects; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D009865:Oocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D014981:Xenopus
chemical_list: D018118:Chloride Channels; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid; D002118:Calcium