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A Novel, Volume-correlated Cl Conductance in Marginal Cells Dissociated from the Stria Vascularis of Gerbils

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Abstract.

Using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique, we examined Cl-selective currents manifested by strial marginal cells isolated from the inner ear of gerbils. A large Cl-selective conductance of ∼18 nS/pF was found from nonswollen cells in isotonic buffer containing 150 mm Cl. Under a quasi-symmetrical Cl condition, the `instantaneous' current-voltage relation was close to linear, while the current-voltage relation obtained at the end of command pulses of duration 400 msec showed weak outward rectification. The permeability sequence for anionic currents was as SCN > Br≅ Cl > F > NO 3≅ I > gluconate, corresponding to Eisenmann's sequence V. When whole-cell voltage clamped in isotonic bathing solutions, the cells exhibited volume changes that were accounted for by the Cl currents driven by the imposed electrochemical potential gradients. The volume change was elicited by lowered extracellular Cl concentration, anion substitution and altered holding potentials. The Cl conductance varied in parallel with cell volume when challenged by bath anisotonicity. The whole-cell Cl current was only partially blocked by both 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino) benzoic acid (NPPB, 0.5 mm) and diphenylamine-2-carboxylic acid (DPC, 1.0 mm), but 4-acetamido-4′-isothiocyanato-stilbene-2,2′-disulfonic acid (SITS, 0.5 mm) was without effect. The properties of the present whole-cell Cl current resembled those of the single Cl channel previously found in the basolateral membrane of the marginal cell (Takeuchi et al., Hearing Res. 83:89–100, 1995), suggesting that the volume-correlated Cl conductance could be ascribed predominantly to the basolateral membrane. This Cl conductance may function not only in cell volume regulation but also for the transport of Cl and the setting of membrane potential in marginal cells under physiological conditions.

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Received: 15 August 1995/Revised: 3 November 1995

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Takeuchi, S., Irimajiri, A. A Novel, Volume-correlated Cl Conductance in Marginal Cells Dissociated from the Stria Vascularis of Gerbils. J. Membrane Biol. 150, 47–62 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002329900029

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002329900029

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