title: Mineralocorticoids decrease the activity of the apical small-conductance K channel in the cortical collecting duct.
abstract: We used the patch-clamp technique to examine the effect of DOCA treatment (2 mg/kg) on the apical small-conductance K (SK) channels, epithelial Na channels (ENaC), and the basolateral 18-pS K channels in the cortical collecting duct (CCD). Treatment of rats with DOCA for 6 days significantly decreased the plasma K from 3.8 to 3.1 meq and reduced the activity of the SK channel, defined as NP(o), from 1.3 in the CCD of control rats to 0.6. In contrast, DOCA treatment significantly increased ENaC activity from 0.01 to 0.53 and the basolateral 18-pS K channel activity from 0.67 to 1.63. Moreover, Western blot analysis revealed that DOCA treatment significantly increased the expression of the nonreceptor type of protein tyrosine kinase (PTK), cSrc, and the tyrosine phosphorylation of ROMK in the renal cortex and outer medulla. The possibility that decreases in apical SK channel activity induced by DOCA treatment were the result of stimulation of PTK activity was further supported by experiments in which inhibition of PTK with herbimycin A significantly increased NP(o) from 0.6 to 2.1 in the CCD from rats receiving DOCA. Also, when rats were fed a high-K (10%) diet, DOCA treatment did not increase the expression of c-Src and decrease the activity of the SK channel in the CCD. We conclude that DOCA treatment decreased the apical SK channel activity in rats on a normal-K diet and that an increase in PTK expression may be responsible for decreased channel activity in the CCD from DOCA-treated rats.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Pharmacology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY 10595, USA.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Babilonia
authors.forename: Hyacinth
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sterling
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Wen-Hui
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D003900:Desoxycorticosterone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D007672:Kidney Cortex; D007685:Kidney Tubules, Collecting / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D011188:Potassium / Q000097:blood; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D015221:Potassium Channels; D003900:Desoxycorticosterone; D011188:Potassium