Summary
This paper describes the effect of trinitrocresolate anions (TNC−) on the electrical conductance (G m ), and tracer-measured unidirectional Na and K fluxes (M Na andM K) across bilayers formed from sheep red cell lipids dissolved in decane. In the absence of TNC−, typical low conductances were observed, while the cation fluxes were too low to measure by our techniques (<10−12 moles cm−2 sec−1). In the presence of TNC− (10−2 m),G m increased and TNC− was the main charge carrier in the system. The cationic fluxes were also much increased, but the membranes showed no significant selectivity between K and Na. Furthermore, the Na and K fluxes were at least two orders of magnitude larger than the ionic fluxes calculated fromG m . Thus, almost all of the K and Na transport across the membrane in the presence of TNC− is electrically silent and is probably carried out as KTNC and NaTNC ion pairs.
In the presence of valinomycin (10−6 m) and no TNC−, both the ion fluxes andG m were 103 times larger in KCl than in NaCl, thus exhibiting the characteristic high selectivity of valinomycin for K over Na. In the presence of both valinomycin (10−6 m) and TNC− (10−2 m), this selectivity disappeared in that bothG m andM Na in the NaCl system were similar to the respective values in the KCl system. Even under these conditions, most of the Na is still transported by a process which does not carry charge.
BothG m andM x increased alike and monotonically with increasing temperature over the range 7 to 30°C. In the absence of TNC− the enthalpies of activation were invariably higher in KCl than in NaCl. Addition of TNC− produced equal enthalpies of activation for both Na and K containing systems suggesting a common, temperature-dependent, ratedetermining step in charge transfer and the electrically silent cation fluxes.
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Ginsburg, H., Tosteson, M.T. & Tosteson, D.C. Some effects of trinitrocresolate and valinomycin on Na and K transport across thin lipid bilayer membranes: A steady-state analysis with simultaneous tracer and electrical measurements. J. Membrain Biol. 42, 153–168 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01885368
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01885368