Activation of phospholipase D by osmotic cell swelling

In response to osmotic cell swelling, Intestine 407 cells react with a rapid and transient activation of phospholipase D (PLD). To investigate the role of PLD during the regulatory volume decrease, cells were treated with 1-butanol resulting in a depletion of PLD substrates. Activation of volume-regulated anion channels, but not the cell swelling-induced release of taurine, was largely inhibited in the presence of low concentrations of 1-butanol. In addition, hypotonicity-induced exocytosis, ATP release and subsequent endocytosis were found to be largely abrogated. The results support a model of cell volume regulation in which PLD plays an essential role in the cell swelling-induced vesicle cycling and in the activation of volume-sensitive anion channels.