Liu GX, Vepa S, Artman M, Coetzee WA. Modulation of human cardiovascular outward rectifying chloride channel by intra-and extracellular ATP. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 293: H3471-H3479, 2007. First published October 12, 2007; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00357.2007.-The macroscopic volume-regulated anion current (VRAC) is regulated by both intracellular and extracellular ATP, which has important implications in signaling and regulation of cellular excitability. The outwardly rectifying Cl Ϫ channel (ORCC) is a major contributor to the VRAC. This study investigated the effects of intracellular and extracellular ATP on the ORCCs expressed in the human cardiovascular system. With inside-out singlechannel patch-clamp techniques, ORCCs were recorded from myocytes isolated from human atrium and septal ventricle and from primary cells originating from human coronary artery endothelium and human coronary artery smooth muscle. ORCCs from all of these tissues had similar biophysical properties, i.e., they were outwardly rectifying in symmetrical Cl Ϫ solutions, exhibited a slope conductance of ϳ90 -100 pS at positive potentials and ϳ22 pS at negative potentials, and had a high open probability that was independent of voltage or time. The presence of ATP at the cytosolic face of the membrane increased the number of patches that contained functional ORCC but had no effect on gating. In contrast, "extracellular" ATP (in pipette solution) had no effect on the proportion of patches in which ORCC was detected but strongly reduced the open probability by increasing the closed dwell time. The potency order for nucleotides to affect gating was ATP␥S Ͼ ATP ϭ UTP Ͼ ADP Ͼ AMP, which suggests that a negatively charged phosphate group is involved in ORCC block. Our findings are consistent with a role of ORCC in the human cardiovasculature (atrium, ventricle, and coronary arteries). Regulation of ORCC by extracellular ATP suggests that this channel may have an important role in maintaining electrical activity and membrane potential under conditions in which extracellular ATP levels are elevated, such as with ATP release from nerve endings or during pathophysiological conditions. human heart; atrial myocytes; ventricular myocytes; endothelial cells; smooth muscle cells CHLORIDE CHANNELS in the cardiovascular system play an important role in maintaining the resting potential and by participating in repolarization of the action potential (15,17,27). There are several types of macroscopic Cl Ϫ currents identified by whole cell patch-clamp recordings, which are distinguished from each other in terms of their regulation. These include Cl