Organic anion permeation at the proximal tubule of Necturus

Abstract

This study deals with the electrical responses of the peritubular membrane of the Necturus proximal tubule to 8 organic anions, in NaHCO₃-free (trismaleate-buffered) and NaHCO₃-containing solutions. The anions glutamate and gluconate brought about a small depolarization, but only in NaHCO₃-free media. Benzene sulfonate did not alter significantly membrane p.d. The 5 other test-anions produced hyperpolarization. The magnitude of membrane depolarization elicited by high-K media was proportionally larger in the presence of the test-anions propionate, lactate, pyruvate, acetate and formate than with chloride: it is inferred that these anions increasedT _K. The same 5 anions shifted in the negative direction the p.d. achieved at peak K-depolarization; according to a previous analysis (Anagnostopoulos, 1977), this observation suggests that their permeabilities (P _A) are greater thanP _Cl, at least during the substitution. The association ofP _A>P _Cl with an increase ofT _K, upon exposure of the kidney to test-anions, is at best accounted for by a decrease ofP _Cl. The pattern of voltage attenuation along the epithelial cable during anionic substitutions is also consistent with an increase ofT _K via a decrease ofP _Cl. In conclusion, the apparent sequence of relative anionic permeabilities, as obtained from the responses of the tissue to a single anion, irrespective of buffering procedures, is:P _acet,P _lact,P _pyruv,P _prop,P _form>P _Cl≃P _gluc,P _glut. The test-anions propionate, lactate, pyruvate, acetate and formate tend to increaseT _K, mainly by reducingP _Cl. The effect of glutamate and gluconate on physiologic ion permeabilities is too small to be specified with accuracy: it depends to some extent on the buffer used in the solutions.