MID1 Related Chloride Channel Protein (MCLC)

MID-1 is a Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene encoding a stretch-activated channel. This gene encoded a protein of 541 amino acids. Messenger RNA for this gene was expressed abundantly in the testis and moderately in the spleen, liver, kidney, heart, brain, and lung. In the testis, immunoreactivity of the gene product was detected both in the cytoplasm and the nucleus. When expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells, the gene product was located in intracellular compartments including endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus. When microsome fraction obtained from the transfected cells, but not from mock-transfected cells, was incorporated into the lipid bilayer, an anion channel activity was detected. Unitary conductance was 70 picosiemens in symmetric 150 mm KCl solution. MCLC encodes a new class of chloride channel expressed in intracellular compartments.