Osmoregulated chloride currents in hemocytes from mytilus galloprovincialis

Bregante, M., Carpaneto, A., Piazza, V., Sbrana, F., Vassalli, M. , Faimali, M. and Gambale, F. (2016) Osmoregulated chloride currents in hemocytes from mytilus galloprovincialis. PLoS ONE, 11(12), e0167972. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167972) (PMID:27936151) (PMCID:PMC5148081)

Abstract

We investigated the biophysical properties of the transport mediated by ion channels in hemocytes from the hemolymph of the bivalve Mytilus galloprovincialis. Besides other transporters, mytilus hemocytes possess a specialized channel sensitive to the osmotic pressure with functional properties similar to those of other transport proteins present in vertebrates. As chloride fluxes may play an important role in the regulation of cell volume in case of modifications of the ionic composition of the external medium, we focused our attention on an inwardly-rectifying voltage-dependent, chloride-selective channel activated by negative membrane potentials and potentiated by the low osmolality of the external solution. The chloride channel was slightly inhibited by micromolar concentrations of zinc chloride in the bath solution, while the antifouling agent zinc pyrithione did not affect the channel conductance at all. This is the first direct electrophysiological characterization of a functional ion channel in ancestral immunocytes of mytilus, which may bring a contribution to the understanding of the response of bivalves to salt and contaminant stresses.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: AC was supported by the Italian “Progetti di Ricerca di Interesse Nazionale” (PRIN2010CSJX4F and PRIN 2015795S5W_003), as well as the Compagnia di San Paolo Research Foundation (ROL 291). MF was supported by RITMARE (Ricerca Italiana per il MARE) Flagship Project, a National Research Programme funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Vassalli, Professor Massimo

Creator Roles

Vassalli, M.: Data curation, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Resources, Software, Visualization

• Authors: Bregante, M., Carpaneto, A., Piazza, V., Sbrana, F., Vassalli, M., Faimali, M., and Gambale, F.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Biomedical Engineering
• Journal Name: PLoS ONE
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• ISSN (Online): 1932-6203
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 Bregante et al.
• First Published: First published in PLoS ONE 11(12):e0167972
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License