Abstract:
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), or bile duct carcinoma, is an important publichealth
problem in northeasthern Thailand. The mechanism of carcinogenesis of
CCA, however is still uncertain. On the other hand, some ion channels are
reported to be involved in regulating proliferation and apoptosis in some cancer
cells. The objective of this work was to characterize ion channels in Thai
cholangiocarcinoma cell lines using the whole-cell patch clamp technique.
Results: Average cell diameter, cell capacitance and series resistance were
(mean ± S.E.M.) 22.25 ± 0.42 μm, 30.41 ± 1.73 pF and 7.00 ± 0.83 MΩ,
respectively. Basal current response could be separated into three patterns,
according to voltage dependence. Firstly, outwardly rectifying pattern (38%)
which was composed of two currents with different kinetics: The timeindependent
(TI) current was inhibited by 250 μM DIDS but not effected by 10
mM TEA, 2 mM Ba2+ and external Cl- ion substitution. The slowly activating
(SA) current was found in a small number (6%) and the ionic basis was not tested.
The other two current patterns were the linear pattern (LP, 54%) and the inwardly
rectifying pattern (8%). The latter can be further classified by kinetics to timeindependent
(TIir) and inactivating (IN) forms. Both LP and TIir were not
affected by 250 μM DIDS, 10 mM TEA, 2 mM Ba2+ and external Cl- ion
substitution. Furthermore, when CCA cells were exposed to 600 μM ATP, the
outward and inward currents were increased by 4.4 times (p=0.0024, n=8) and 3.3
times (p=0.0156, n=8) in 53.33% of patched cells. ATP-activated outward current
were blocked by 250 μM DIDS (p=0.0016, n=5) and 10 mM TEA (n=1). These
findings indicate that some cells of Thai cholangiocarcinoma cell lines may
possess a voltage-gated Cl- channel and ATP-sensitive Cl- and K+ channels. The
identity of other ligand-gated ion channels in CCA cell lines and cholangiocytes,
and the association with carcinogenesis need further investigation. Data from this
study could provide a basic knowledge for future study into
cholangiocarcinogenesis and treatment.