Ion transport regulation by P2Y receptors, protein kinase C and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase within the semicircular canal duct epithelium

BACKGROUND: The ionic composition of the luminal fluid in the vestibular labyrinth is maintained within tight limits by the many types of epithelial cells bounding the lumen. Regulatory mechanisms include systemic, paracrine and autocrine hormones along with their associated intracellular signal pathways. The epithelium lining the semicircular canal duct (SCCD) is a tissue that is known to absorb sodium and calcium and to secrete chloride. FINDINGS: Transport function was assessed by measurements of short circuit current (I(sc)) and gene transcript expression was evaluated by microarray. Neither ATP nor UTP (100 microM) on the apical side of the epithelium had any effect on I(sc). By contrast, basolateral ATP transiently increased I(sc )and transepithelial resistance dropped significantly after basolateral ATP and UTP. P2Y2 was the sole UTP-sensitive purinergic receptor expressed. I(sc )was reduced by 42%, 50% and 63% after knockdown of α-ENaC, stimulation of PKC and inhibition of PI3-K, while the latter two increased the transepithelial resistance. PKCdelta, PKCgamma and PI3-K were found to be expressed. CONCLUSIONS: These observations demonstrate that ion transport by the SCCD is regulated by P2Y2 purinergic receptors on the basolateral membrane that may respond to systemic or local agonists, such as ATP and/or UTP. The sodium absorption from endolymph mediated by ENaC in SCCD is regulated by signal pathways that include the kinases PKC and PI3-K. These three newly-identified regulatory components may prove to be valuable drug targets in the control of pathologic vestibular conditions involving dysfunction of transport homeostasis in the ear, such as Meniere's disease.