Store-operated Ca²⁺ entry regulates Ca²⁺-activated chloride channels and eccrine sweat gland function

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Abstract

Eccrine sweat glands are essential for sweating and thermoregulation in humans. Loss-of-function mutations in the Ca²⁺ release–activated Ca²⁺ (CRAC) channel genes ORAI1 and STIM1 abolish store-operated Ca²⁺ entry (SOCE), and patients with these CRAC channel mutations suffer from anhidrosis and hyperthermia at high ambient temperatures. Here we have shown that CRAC channel–deficient patients and mice with ectodermal tissue–specific deletion of Orai1 (Orai1^K14Cre) or Stim1 and Stim2 (Stim1/2^K14Cre) failed to sweat despite normal sweat gland development. SOCE was absent in agonist-stimulated sweat glands from Orai1^K14Cre and Stim1/2^K14Cre mice and human sweat gland cells lacking ORAI1 or STIM1 expression. In Orai1^K14Cre mice, abolishment of SOCE was associated with impaired chloride secretion by primary murine sweat glands. In human sweat gland cells, SOCE mediated by ORAI1 was necessary for agonist-induced chloride secretion and activation of the Ca²⁺-activated chloride channel (CaCC) anoctamin 1 (ANO1, also known as TMEM16A). By contrast, expression of TMEM16A, the water channel aquaporin 5 (AQP5), and other regulators of sweat gland function was normal in the absence of SOCE. Our findings demonstrate that Ca²⁺ influx via store-operated CRAC channels is essential for CaCC activation, chloride secretion, and sweat production in humans and mice.

Authors

Axel R. Concepcion, Martin Vaeth, Larry E. Wagner II, Miriam Eckstein, Lee Hecht, Jun Yang, David Crottes, Maximilian Seidl, Hyosup P. Shin, Carl Weidinger, Scott Cameron, Stuart E. Turvey, Thomas Issekutz, Isabelle Meyts, Rodrigo S. Lacruz, Mario Cuk, David I. Yule, Stefan Feske