Monitoring single-channel water permeability in polarized cells

So far the determination of unitary permeability (p(f)) of water channels that are expressed in polarized cells is subject to large errors because the opening of a single water channel does not noticeably increase the water permeability of a membrane patch above the background. That is, in contrast to the patch clamp technique, where the single ion channel conductance may be derived from a single experiment, two experiments separated in time and/or space are required to obtain the single-channel water permeability p(f) as a function of the incremental water permeability (P(f,c)) and the number (n) of water channels that contributed to P(f,c). Although the unitary conductance of ion channels is measured in the native environment of the channel, p(f) is so far derived from reconstituted channels or channels expressed in oocytes. To determine the p(f) of channels from live epithelial monolayers, we exploit the fact that osmotic volume flow alters the concentration of aqueous reporter dyes adjacent to the epithelia. We measure these changes by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, which allows the calculation of both P(f,c) and osmolyte dilution within the unstirred layer. Shifting the focus of the laser from the aqueous solution to the apical and basolateral membranes allowed the FCS-based determination of n. Here we validate the new technique by determining the p(f) of aquaporin 5 in Madin-Darby canine kidney cell monolayers. Because inhibition and subsequent activity rescue are monitored on the same sample, drug effects on exocytosis or endocytosis can be dissected from those on p(f).