Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine Na-Ca exchanger 2, 3 (NCX2, 3) protein level changes during 2, 5, 10, 15 days after induction of normobaric hyperoxia (HO) preconditioning. Materials and Methods: Rats were divided in two experimental groups. The first group was exposed to 95% inspired HO for 4 h/day for 6 consecutive days (HO). The second group acted as control, and was...

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a cAMP-regulated chloride channel localized at apical cell membranes and exists in macromolecular complexes with a variety of signaling and transporter molecules. Here, we report that the multidrug resistance protein 4 (MRP4), a cAMP transporter, functionally and physically associates with CFTR. Adenosine-stimulated CFTR-mediated chl...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Nuclear erythroid 2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) is an astrocyte-enriched transcription factor that has previously been shown to upregulate cellular antioxidant systems in response to ischemia. Although resveratrol preconditioning (RPC) has emerged as a potential neuroprotective therapy, the involvement of Nrf2 in RPC-induced neuroprotection and mitochondrial reactive oxygen s...

With the aid of quantum mechanical calculations we investigate the electronic structure of the full length (FL) potassium channel protein, FL-KcsA, in its closed conformation, and the electronic structure of the ClC chloride channel. The results indicate that both ion channels are strongly polarized towards the extracellular region with respect to the membrane mean plane. FL-KcsA possesses an e...

Recently, it was demonstrated that liver injury and TNF-alpha production as a result of endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) were attenuated by feeding animals a diet enriched with glycine. This phenomenon was shown to be a result of, at least in part, activation of a chloride channel in Kupffer cells by glycine, which hyperpolarizes the cell membrane and blunts increases in intracellular calciu...

Two major discoveries have transformed our understanding of cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease in which thick secretions accumulate in airways, digestive organs and sperm duct. The first was that cystic fibrosis involves a basic defect in epithelial ion transport [1], which is manifested primarily as the loss of chloride conductance [2]. The connection between the loss of epithelial chloride co...

The principal function of the colon in fluid homeostasis is the absorption of NaCl and water. Apical membrane Na(+) channels, Na(+)/H(+) and Cl(-)/HCO exchangers, have all been postulated to mediate NaCl entry into colonocytes. The identity of the basolateral exit pathway for Cl(-) is unknown. We have previously demonstrated the presence of the ClC-2 transcript in the guinea pig intestine. Now ...