Two bestrophins cloned from Xenopus laevis oocytes express Ca(2+)-activated Cl(-) currents

Ca2+-activated Cl- channels play important diverse roles from fast block to polyspermy to olfactory transduction, but their molecular identity has not been firmly established. By searching sequence databases with the M2 pore domain of ligand-gated anion channels, we identified potential Ca2+-activated Cl- channels, which included members of the bestrophin family. We cloned two bestrophins from Xenopus oocytes, which express high levels of Ca2+-activated Cl- channels. The Xenopus bestrophins were expressed in a variety of tissues. We predict that bestrophin has six transmembrane domains with the conserved RFP domain playing an integral part in ionic selectivity. When Xenopus bestrophins were heterologously expressed in human embryonic kidney-293 cells, large Ca2+-activated Cl- currents were observed. The currents are voltage- and time-independent, do not rectify, have a Kd for Ca2+ of approximately 210 nm, and exhibit a permeability ratio of I- > Br- > Cl- > aspartate. The W93C and G299E mutations produce non-functional channels that exert a dominant negative effect on wild type channels. We conclude that bestrophins are the first molecularly identified Cl- channels that are dependent on intracellular Ca2+ in a physiological range.