ClC Cl؊ channels in endosomes, synaptosomes, lysosomes, and -cell insulin granules provide charge neu- . We now ascribe just such a regulatory function to the increases in cellular levels of inositol 3,4,5,6-tetrakisphosphate (Ins(3,4,5,6)P 4 ) that inevitably accompany activation of the ubiquitous Ins(1,4,5)P 3 signaling pathway. We used confocal imaging to record insulin granule acidification in single mouse pancreatic -cells. Granule acidification was reduced by perfusion of single cells with 10 M Ins(3,4,5,6)P 4 (the concentration following receptor activation), whereas at 1 M ("resting" levels), Ins(3,4,5,6)P 4 was ineffective. This response to Ins(3,4,5,6)P 4 was not mimicked by 100 M Ins(1,4,5,6)P 4 or by 100 M Ins(1,3,4,5,6)P 5 . Ins(3,4,5,6)P 4 did not affect granular H ؉ -ATPase activity or H ؉ leak, indicating that Ins(3,4,5,6)P 4 instead inhibited charge neutralization by ClC. The Ins(3,4,5,6)P 4 -mediated inhibition of vesicle acidification reduced exocytic release of insulin as determined by whole-cell capacitance recordings. This may impinge upon type 2 diabetes etiology. Regulatory control over vesicle acidification by this negative signaling pathway in other cell types should be considered.Elevations in Ins(3,4,5,6)P 4 1 levels are ubiquitously coupled to stimulus-dependent activation of the Ins(1,4,5)P 3 signaling pathway (1, 2). When this observation was first made, Ins(3,4,5,6)P 4 had no known physiological function and was deemed to be an "orphan" signal (2). Subsequently Ins(3,4,5,6)P 4 was shown to inhibit the conductance through Ca 2ϩ -activated Cl Ϫ channels (CLCAs) in the plasma membrane (3-5). However, this signaling paradigm has, to date, seemed restricted to epithelial salt and fluid secretion (6, 7). This has raised the question as to whether, in other cell types, there can be wider biological significance to receptor-dependent changes in Ins(3,4,5,6)P 4 levels.There are Cl Ϫ channels, which are different from CLCAs, that are expressed in intracellular vesicles, such as endosomes (8), synaptosomes (8), and insulin granules in -cells (9), where they co-localize with H ϩ -ATPases (10 -12). The acidification of the vesicular interior by these H ϩ -ATPases serves a number of important functions, including modulation of certain ligandprotein interactions during endocytosis, enzyme targeting, coupled transport of small molecules, and optimization of proteolytic activities of, for example, prohormone processing enzymes (13,27). It has also been proposed that luminal acidification drives the priming of insulin granules so that they become competent to fuse with the plasma membrane and release their cargo (9). This particular paradigm could be more widely applicable to endocrine and neurotransmitter release.If the vesicle acidification driven by the electrogenic H ϩ -ATPase were not to be charge-compensated, a large transmembrane electrical gradient would develop, and this would then prevent further H ϩ pumping even before a substantial acidification of the vesicular interior could take p...