Abstract.
It is well known that Na+ reabsorption in the kidney can be regulated by aldosterone. Although Cl– is the most abundant anion present in the extra cellular fluids the involvement of aldosterone in the regulation of Cl– conductance through Cl– channels at the molecular level is unknown. In this study, the effects of aldosterone and high-Na+ diet on the expression of ClC-2, a cell volume-, pH- and voltage-sensitive Cl– channel, was examined in the rat kidney. Total RNA isolated from Wistar rats fed a high-Na+ diet for 5 days, furosemide treatment, adrenalectomy and adrenalectomy with replacement of normal plasma levels of aldosterone were compared by the use of ribonuclease protection assay (RPA), and/or a semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The high-Na+ diet reduced renal mRNA and protein ClC-2 expression. The renal expression of ClC-2 mRNA decreased in adrenalectomized rats and was restored by plasma aldosterone replacement. In addition, the semi-quantitative RT-PCR in different segments of the nephron showed that these changes were secondary to the modulation of ClC-2 mRNA expression by aldosterone in the cortical and medullary segments of thick ascending limbs of Henle's loop. These results suggest that ClC-2 may be involved with aldosterone-induced Cl– transport in the kidney.
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Ornellas, D.S., Nascimento, D.S., Christoph, D.H. et al. Aldosterone and high-NaCl diet modulate ClC-2 chloride channel gene expression in rat kidney. Pflügers Arch - Eur J Physiol 444, 193–201 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-002-0788-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-002-0788-y