Calcineurin Inhibitors Stimulate Kir4.1/Kir5.1 of the Distal Convoluted Tubule to Increase Nacl Cotransporter

Authors

Dan-Dan Zhang, Department of Physiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
Xin-Peng Duan, Department of Pharmacology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, USA.
Kerim Mutig, Institute of Translational Physiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
Franziska Rausch, Institute of Translational Physiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
Yu Xiao, Department of Pharmacology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, USA.
Jun-Ya Zheng, Department of Pharmacology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, USA.
Dao-Hong Lin, Department of Pharmacology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, USA.
Wen-Hui Wang, Department of Pharmacology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, USA.

Author Type(s)

Faculty

Journal Title

JCI Insight

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-10-2023

Department

Pharmacology

Abstract

We examine whether calcineurin or protein phosphatase 2B (PP2B) regulates the basolateral inwardly rectifying potassium channel Kir4.1/Kir5.1 in the distal convoluted tubule (DCT). Application of tacrolimus (FK506) or cyclosporine A (CsA) increased whole-cell Kir4.1/Kir5.1-mediated K+ currents and hyperpolarized the DCT membrane. Moreover, FK506-induced stimulation of Kir4.1/Kir5.1 was absent in kidney tubule-specific 12 kDa FK506-binding protein-knockout mice (Ks-FKBP-12-KO). In contrast, CsA stimulated Kir4.1/Kir5.1 of the DCT in Ks-FKBP-12-KO mice, suggesting that FK506-induced stimulation of Kir4.1/Kir5.1 was due to inhibiting PP2B. Single-channel patch-clamp experiments demonstrated that FK506 or CsA stimulated the basolateral Kir4.1/Kir5.1 activity of the DCT, defined by NPo (a product of channel number and open probability). However, this effect was absent in the DCT treated with Src family protein tyrosine kinase (SFK) inhibitor or hydroxyl peroxide. Fluorescence imaging demonstrated that CsA treatment increased membrane staining intensity of Kir4.1 in the DCT of Kcnj10fl/fl mice. Moreover, CsA treatment had no obvious effect on phosphorylated NaCl cotransporter (pNCC) expression in Ks-Kir4.1-KO mice. Immunoblotting showed acute FK506 treatment increased pNCC expression in Kcnj10fl/fl mice, but this effect was attenuated in Ks-Kir4.1-KO mice. In vivo measurement of thiazide-induced renal Na+ excretion demonstrated that FK506 enhanced thiazide-induced natriuresis. This effect was absent in Ks-FKBP-12-KO mice and blunted in Ks-Kir4.1-KO mice. We conclude that inhibition of PP2B stimulates Kir4.1/Kir5.1 of the DCT and NCC and that PP2B inhibition-induced stimulation of NCC is partially achieved by stimulation of the basolateral Kir4.1/Kir5.1.

Recommended Citation

Zhang, D., Duan, X., Mutig, K., Rausch, F., Xiao, Y., Zheng, J., Lin, D., & Wang, W. (2023). Calcineurin Inhibitors Stimulate Kir4.1/Kir5.1 of the Distal Convoluted Tubule to Increase Nacl Cotransporter. JCI Insight, 8 (7). https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.165987