Fine control over chloride homeostasis in the lung is required to maintain membrane excitability, transepithelial transport as well as intra- and extracellular ion and water homeostasis. Over the last decades, a growing number of chloride channels and transporters have been identified in the cells of the pulmonary vasculature and the respiratory tract. The importance of these proteins is underpinned by the fact that impairment of their physiological function is associated with functional dysregulation, structural remodeling, or hereditary diseases of the lung. This paper reviews the field of chloride channels and transporters in the lung and discusses chloride channels in disease processes such as viral infections including SARS-CoV- 2, pulmonary arterial hypertension and cystic fibrosis. Although chloride channels have become a hot research topic in recent years, remarkably few of them have been targeted by pharmacological agents. As such, we complement the putative pathophysiological role of chloride channels here with a summary of their therapeutic potential.

需要对肺内的氯离子稳态进行精细控制，以维持膜兴奋性、跨上皮转运以及细胞内和细胞外离子和水的稳态。在过去的几十年里，在肺血管和呼吸道细胞中发现了越来越多的氯离子通道和转运蛋白。这些蛋白质的重要​​性基于以下事实：其生理功能受损与功能失调、结构重塑或肺部遗传性疾病有关。本文回顾了肺部氯离子通道和转运蛋白领域，并讨论了疾病过程中的氯离子通道，例如病毒感染（包括 SARS-CoV-2）、肺动脉高压和囊性纤维化。尽管氯离子通道近年来已成为热门研究课题，但其中很少有药物能够靶向氯离子通道。因此，我们在此总结了氯离子通道的治疗潜力，以补充其假定的病理生理学作用。