Up-regulation of Kir2.1 by ER stress facilitates cell death of brain capillary endothelial cells

Highlights: → We found that application of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress with tunicamycin to brain capillary endothelial cells (BCECs) induced cell death. → The ER stress facilitated the expression of inward rectifier K+ channel (Kir2.1) and induced sustained membrane hyperpolarization. → The membrane hyperpolarization induced sustained Ca2+ entry through voltage-independent nonspecific cation channels and consequently facilitated cell death. → The Kir2.1 up-regulation by ER stress is, at least in part, responsible for cell death of BCECs under pathological conditions. -- Abstract: Brain capillary endothelial cells (BCECs) form blood brain barrier (BBB) to maintain brain homeostasis. Cell turnover of BCECs by the balance of cell proliferation and cell death is critical for maintaining the integrity of BBB. Here we found that stimuli with tunicamycin, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress inducer, up-regulated inward rectifier K+ channel (Kir2.1) and facilitated cell death in t-BBEC117, a cell line derived from bovine BCECs. The activation of Kir channels contributed to the establishment of deeply negative resting membrane potential in t-BBEC117. The deep resting membrane potential increased the resting intracellular Ca2+ concentration due to Ca2+ influx through non-selective cation channels and thereby partly but significantly regulated cell death in t-BBEC117. The present results suggest that the up-regulation of Kir2.1 is, at least in part, responsible for cell death/cell turnover of BCECs induced by a variety of cellular stresses, particularly ER stress, under pathological conditions.