Chlorzoxazone or 1-EBIO increases Na+ absorption across cystic fibrosis airway epithelial cells

Abstract

Previous studies demonstrated that chlorzoxazone or 1-ethyl-2-benzimidazolinone (1-EBIO) enhances transepithelial Cl- secretion by increasing basolateral K+ conductance (GK) (Singh AK, Devor DC, Gerlach AC, Gondor M, Pilewski JM, and Bridges RJ. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 292: 778-787, 2000). Hence these compounds may be useful to treat cystic fibrosis (CF) airway disease. The goal of the present study was to determine whether chlorzoxazone or 1-EBIO altered ion transport across ΔF508-CF transmembrane conductance regulator homozygous CFT1 airway cells. CFT1 monolayers exhibited a basal short-circuit current that was abolished by apical amiloride (inhibition constant 320 nM) as expected for Na+ absorption. The addition of chlorzoxazone (400 μM) or 1-EBIO (2 mM) increased the amiloride-sensitive Isc ∼2.5-fold. This overlapping specificity may preclude use of these compounds as CF therapeutics. Assaying for changes in the basolateral GK with a K+ gradient plus the pore-forming antibiotic amphotericin B revealed that chlorzoxazone or 1-EBIO evoked an ∼10-fold increase in clotrimazole-sensitive GK. In contrast, chlorzoxazone did not alter epithelial Na+ channel-mediated currents across basolateral-permeabilized monolayers or in Xenopus oocytes. These data further suggest that alterations in basolateral GK alone can modulate epithelial Na+ transport.