An inwardly rectifying chloride channel in ragweed-sensitized canine tracheal epithelial cells

The single channel inside-out patch clamp technique was used to characterize ion channels in the apical membranes of ragweed-sensitized and control canine tracheal epithelial cells maintained in primary culture. Patches were obtained from single isolated cells or from cells at the edges of confluent sheets. A new type of chloride channel was seen in sensitized cells but not in control cells. The channel showed inward rectification in symmetric chloride solutions with conductance varying from 95 pS to 52 pS over the range of -60 mV to 60 mV membrane potential. Channel gating was voltage dependent with maximal opening at about -30 mV. Kinetic analysis showed that distributions of closed and open times could both be well fitted by the sums of three exponential components. Rate constants for transitions between the states of a linear kinetic model were calculated, with only one rate being significantly voltage dependent. The possible significance of this channel is discussed.