Functional independence of monomeric CHIP28 water channels revealed by expression of wild-type mutant heterodimers

Lan Bo Shi, William R. Skach, A. S. Verkman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

105 Scopus citations

Abstract

CHIP28 is a major water transporting protein in erythrocytes and kidney which forms tetramers in membranes (Verbavatz, J. M., Brown, D., Sabolic, I., Valenti, G., Ausiello, D. A., Van Hoek, A. N., Ma, T., and Verkman, A. S. (1993) J. Cell Biol. 123, 605-618). To determine whether CHIP28 monomers function independently, chimeric cDNA dimers were constructed which contained wild-type CHIP28 in series with either wild-type CHIP28, a non-water transporting CHIP28 mutant (C189W), or a functional but mercurial-insensitive CHIP28 mutant (C189S). Transcribed cRNAs were injected in Xenopus oocytes and plasma membrane expression was assayed by quantitative immunofluorescence. Water channel function was measured by osmotically induced swelling. CHIP28 homo- and heterodimers were targeted to the oocyte plasma membrane and functioned as water channels. Relative osmotic water permeability (P(f)) values (normalized for plasma membrane expression of monomeric subunits) were: 1.0 (CHIP28 monomer), 0.0 (C189W), 1.07 (C189S), 1.10 (CHIP28-CHIP28 dimer) and 0.52 (CHIP28-C189W). The increase in oocyte P(f) was linearly related to plasma membrane expression of wild-type CHIP28 and C189S subunits. HgCl2 (0.3 mM) inhibited channel-mediated P(f) in oocytes expressing wild- type CHIP28 monomers and dimers by 85-90%, but did not inhibit P(f) in oocytes expressing C189S. HgCl2 inhibited P(f) in oocytes expressing CHIP28- C189S dimers by 44 ± 7%, consistent with one mercurial-sensitive and one insensitive subunit in the heterodimer. These results indicate that despite their assembly in tetramers, monomeric CHIP28 subunits function independently as water channels.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)10417-10422
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Biological Chemistry
Volume269
Issue number14
StatePublished - Apr 8 1994
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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