Many vertebrate cells react to hypotonic conditions with swelling, followed by an active downregulation of the cell volume; a progress called regulatory volume decrease (RVD). While the actual process of volume decrease by loss of osmotically active molecules like K+ and Cl−, followed by water efflux has been extensively investigated, the signal for activation of RVD still remains obscure. Studies with different cell lines demonstrated a participation of the cation channel transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) as well as the actin cytoskeleton in volume regulation. Therefore, we analyzed putative links between TRPV4 and F-actin in RVD in HaCaT keratinocytes and CHO cells. Laser scanning microscopy studies revealed a distinct colocalization of TRPV4 and actin in highly dynamic membrane structures, such as microvilli, filopodia and lamellipodia edges. After treatment of cells with the actin-destabilizing reagent latrunculin A, TRPV4 and F-actin no longer colocalized within the membrane. In accordance with these data, close interaction between TRPV4 and F-actin was revealed by FRAP and FRET studies. For functional analysis, CHO cells that endogenously do not express TRPV4, were transfected with recombinant TRPV4, which rendered them RVD-competent. Treatment with latrunculin A abolished both, RVD and the accompanying rise of [Ca2+]i after hypotonic stress in TRPV4-transfected CHO cells. Taken together, our data demonstrate a functional interaction between TRPV4 and F-actin in sensing hypotonicity and the onset of RVD.

Many members of the TRP superfamily oligomerize in the ER before trafficking to the plasma membrane. For membrane localization of the non-selective cation channel TRPV4 specific domains in the N-terminus are required, but the role of the C-terminus in the oligomerization and trafficking process has been not determined until now. Therefore, the localization of recombinant TRPV4 in two cell models was analyzed: HaCaT keratinocytes that express TRPV4 endogenously were compared to CHO cells that are devoid of endogenous TRPV4. When deletions were introduced in the C-terminal domain three states of TRPV4 localization were defined: a truncated TRPV4 protein of 855 amino acids was exported to the plasma membrane like the full-length channel (871 aa) and was also functional. Mutants with a length of 828 to 844 amino acids remained in the ER of CHO cells, but in HaCaT cells plasma membrane localization was partially rescued by oligomerization with endogenous TRPV4. This was confirmed by coexpression of recombinant full-length TRPV4 together with these deletion mutants, which resulted in an almost complete plasma membrane localization of both proteins and significant FRET in the plasma membrane and the ER. All deletions upstream of amino acid 828 resulted in total ER retention that could not rescued by coexpression with the full-length protein. However, these deletion mutants did not impair export of full-length TRPV4, implying that no oligomerization took place. These data indicate that the C-terminus of TRPV4 is required for oligomerization, which takes place in the ER and precedes plasma membrane trafficking.

Time- and space-correlated single photon counting method has been used to demonstrate the interactions of cation channel “transient receptor potential vanilloid 4” (TRPV4) and microfilaments. Living cells co-expressing TRPV4-CFP and actin-YFP, when excited for the donor molecules (CFP) exhibited an emission peak at 527nm and decrease of the lifetime in the wavelength band 460–490nm; corresponding to resonance energy transfer to YFP. CFP fluorescence decay was fitted best by a dual mode decay model. Considering the average lifetime of the donor, both in the presence and absence of acceptor yielded an apparent FRET efficiency of ∼20%. This is rather high placing the minimum distance of chromophores in the two fluorescent proteins in the range of 4nm. Thus, this study shows for the first time that TRPV4 and actin intimately associate within living cells. The significance of this finding for cell volume regulation is highlighted.