Molecular Human Reproduction, Vol. 7, No. 10, 957-961,
October 2001
© 2001 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Uterine physiology |
The effect of cAMP on ion transport in Fallopian tube epithelial cells in vitro
1 Academic Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, St Bartholomew's and The Royal London School of Medicine, 4th Floor, Holland Wing, The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, London E1 1BB, 2 The Department of Pharmacology and 3 The Department of Biochemistry, Queen Mary College, London E1 4NS, UK
Abstract
The coupled movement of ions and water across epithelia determines the composition and volume of fluid present in the lumen of organs. The second messenger cAMP is important in effecting electrolyte and water transport in many transporting epithelia; however, its role in Fallopian tube transport is uncertain. We have conducted electrophysiological studies on Fallopian tube epithelial cell monolayers in Ussing chambers and have demonstrated that exogenously added cAMP and agents that generate its intracellular production results in an increase in short-circuit current consistent with the transport of net electrical charge from a basal to mucosal direction. In contrast to the known effects of ATP in this tissue, the increase in short-circuit current was not explicable in terms of electrogenic chloride secretion as it was not affected by the chloride channel inhibitors, 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanostilbene-2,2-disulphonic acid 1 mmol/l (SITS) and frusemide. Instead the current was reduced by the sodium channel inhibitor, amiloride, and was therefore, in part, explicable in terms of electrogenic Na+ absorption. These findings will enhance our understanding of the physiological mechanisms responsible for human Fallopian tubal fluid formation and composition.
cAMP/Fallopian tube/ion transport
Notes
4 To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: O.B.Djahanbakhch{at}mds.qmw.ac.uk