Cellular differentiation regulates expression of Cl- transport and cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator mRNA in human intestinal cells.

The gene defective in cystic fibrosis has recently been shown to code for a membrane protein designated the "cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator" (CFTR) protein. While it has been shown that detectable levels of the mRNA for the normal CFTR protein are present in epithelial cells from different tissues, factors which regulate CFTR expression have not been identified. A clonal cell line originating from a human colon adenocarcinoma (HT29-18) differentiates to multiple epithelial cell types when deprived of glucose in the culture medium. In these studies, mRNA isolated from these cells was examined by hybridization to a 1.45-kilobase cDNA probe which encodes transmembrane portions of the CFTR protein between exons 13 and 19. Cellular differentiation of HT29-18 causes a 9-18-fold increase in CFTR mRNA abundance versus the mRNA for the structural proteins actin and tubulin. Cellular differentiation also causes a 5-fold increase in second messenger-regulated Cl- transport which is sensitive to a Cl- channel blocker (diphenylamine 2-carboxylate). Subclones of HT29-18 which are committed to differentiate to either a mucin-secreting (HT29-18-N2) or an "enterocyte-like" (HT29-18-C1) phenotype have also been examined. In both subclones, elevated levels of CFTR mRNA are observed when compared with undifferentiated HT29-18 cells. However, during cellular differentiation, the regulation of CFTR mRNA abundance and membrane enzyme expression by the subclones is different from HT29-18. The results show that elevated CFTR mRNA occurs in multiple differentiated intestinal epithelial cell types, despite a phenotype-specific regulation of membrane protein expression. This suggests that CFTR expression plays a role in the differentiated functions of multiple epithelial phenotypes and that both cellular differentiation and cellular phenotypes are factors which regulate CFTR expression.     

Establishment of polarized endocytosis in differentiable intestinal HT29-18 subclones

Subclones of the HT29-18 clone, derived from a human adenocarcinoma, are able to acquire an enterocyte-like phenotype depending on the culture conditions. To investigate fluid-phase and receptor-mediated endocytosis in the polarized subclone HT29-18-C1, we established culture conditions that allowed cell growth on permeable supports. HT29-18-C1 monolayers had an electrical resistance of 43 ohms.cm2 and developed a transepithelial potential of about 2 mV. Transferrin receptors were uniformly distributed on the entire cell surface of undifferentiated HT29-18 cells but were located on the basolateral membrane of differentiated cells. Transferrin had a high affinity (Kd = 2.5 x 10(-9) M) for its receptor independent of the state of differentiation. The number of transferrin receptors and the mRNA amounts encoding them were comparable in the undifferentiated and differentiated HT29-18 cells. Transferrin was quickly internalized and recycled back to the cell surface of undifferentiated HT29-18 cells. The same phenomenon also occurred in differentiated HT29-18 cells, but the receptors were limited to the basolateral membrane. In the presence of ammonium chloride, the process was slower but remained polarized. Fluid-phase uptake was also investigated with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in differentiated HT29-18 C1 cells. HRP that was internalized in 1 hour from a given membrane domain preferentially recycled back to the same membrane domain. No significant accumulation of the enzyme in the late endosomes and lysosomes of the differentiated HT29-18-C1 cells was observed.     

Murine colonic mucosa hyperproliferation. I. Elevated CFTR expression and enhanced cAMP-dependent Cl(-) secretion

Fluid transport in the large intestine is mediated by the cystic fibrosis gene product and cAMP-dependent anion channel cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). cAMP-mediated Cl(-) secretion by gastrointestinal cell lines in vitro has been positively correlated with the insertion of CFTR into the apical membrane of differentiated senescent colonocytes and negatively correlated with the failure of CFTR to insert into the plasma membrane of their undifferentiated proliferating counterparts. In native tissues, this relationship remains unresolved. We demonstrate, in a transmissible murine colonic hyperplasia (TMCH) model, that (8-fold) colonocyte proliferation was accompanied by increased cellular CFTR mRNA and protein expression (8.3- and 2.4-fold, respectively) and enhanced mucosal cAMP-dependent Cl(-) secretion (2. 3-fold). By immunofluorescence microscopy, cellular CFTR expression was restricted to the apical pole of cells at the base of the epithelial crypt. In contrast, increased cellular proliferation in vivo led to increases in both the cellular level and the total number of cells expressing this anion channel, with cellular CFTR staining extending into the crypt neck region. Hyperproliferating colonocytes accumulated large amounts of CFTR in apically oriented subcellular perinuclear compartments. This novel mode of CFTR regulation may explain why high endogenous levels of cellular CFTR mRNA and protein within the TMCH epithelium were not matched with larger increases in transmucosal CFTR Cl(-) current.