Summary
The interactions between ion and water fluxes have an important bearing on osmoregulation and transepithelial water transport in epithelial cells. Some of these interactions were investigated using ion-selective microelectrodes in theNecturus gallbladder. The intracellular activities of K+ and Cl− in epithelial cells change when the epithelium is adapted to transport in solutions of a low osmolarity. In order to achieve new steady states at low osmolarities, cells lost K+, Cl− and some unidentified anions. Surprisingly, the apparent K+ concentration remained high: at an external osmolartity of 64 mOsm the intracellular K+ concentration averaged 95mm. This imbalance was sensitive to anoxia and ouabain. The effects of abrupt changes in the external osmolarities on the intracellular activities of Na+, K+ and Cl− were also investigated. The gradients were effectuated by mannitol. The initial relative rates of change of the intracellular activities of Na+ and Cl− were equal. The data were consistent with Na+ and Cl− ions initially remaining inside the cell and a cell membraneL p of 10−3 cm sec−1 osm−1, which is close to the values determine by Spring and co-workers (K.R. Spring, A. Hope & B.-E. Persson, 1981.In: Water Transport Across Epithelia. Alfred Benzon Symposium 15. pp. 190–200. Munskgaard, Copenhagen). The initial rate of change of the intracellular activity of K+ was only 0.1–0.2 times the change observed in Na+ and Cl− activities, and suggests that K+ ions leave the cell during the osmotically induced H2O efflux and enter with an induced H2O influx. The coupling is between 98 and 102 mmoles liter−1. Various explanations for the anomalous behavior of intracellular K+ ions are considered. A discussion of the apparent coupling between K+ and H2O, observed in nonsteady states, and its effects on the distribution of K+ and H2O across the cell membrane in the steady states, is presented.
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Zeuthen, T. Relations between intracellular ion activities and extracellular osmolarity inNecturus gallbladder epithelium. J. Membrain Biol. 66, 109–121 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01868487
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01868487