Regulation of Na+ channels in lung alveolar type II epithelial cells

Amiloride-sensitive sodium channels in the lung play an important role in lung fluid balance. Particularly in the alveoli, sodium transport is closely regulated to maintain an appropriate fluid layer on the surface of the alveoli. Alveolar type II cells appear to play an important role in this sodium transport. In alveolar type II cells, there are a variety of different amiloride-sensitive, sodium-permeable channels. This significant diversity appears to play a role in both normal lung physiology and pathologic states. In many epithelial tissues, amiloride-sensitive epithelial sodium channels (ENaC) are formed from three subunit proteins designated alpha-ENaC, beta-ENaC, and gamma-ENaC. At least part of the diversity of sodium-permeable channels in lung arises from assembling different combinations of these subunits to form channels with different biophysical properties and different mechanisms for regulation. This leads to epithelial tissue in the lung that has enormous flexibility to alter the magnitude and regulation of salt and water transport. In this article, we discuss the regulation of ENaCs composed of varying subunits and some of the implications of the regulation for normal pulmonary function.