ASIC1a involves acidic microenvironment-induced activation and autophagy of pancreatic stellate cells

Acid-sensing ion channel 1a (ASIC1a), as a member of the proton-gated cation channel family, can be activated by low extracellular pH, and takes part in many acidity-associated physiopathological processes. However, whether ASIC1a is expressed in human pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) and involved in acid-induced physiopathological events has not been reported yet. In this study, we investigated the expression of ASIC1a in PSCs and its possible role in the activation and autophagy of PSCs evoked by extracellular acid. Our results show that ASIC1a is present in PSCs, and an enhanced expression of ASIC1a occurs under acid stimuli. More importantly, the activation and autophagy of PSCs can be induced in acidic medium, and inhibition of ASIC1a by ASIC1a-specific blocker psalmotoxin-1 (PcTx1) or siRNA knockdown could suppress these two acid-associated processes. Collectively, our present study reports for the first time that ASIC1a is expressed in PSCs, and provides evidence for the involvement of ASIC1a in the acidic microenvironment-induced activation and autophagy of PSCs.