AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 272, Issue 5 1379-R1389, Copyright © 1997 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

Effects of A-23187 and verapamil on the active transport enzymes in turtle bladder epithelial cells

S. Sabatini
Department of Physiology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock 79430, USA.

These experiments were designed to examine the effects of A-23187 (5 x 10(-4) M) and verapamil (100 microM) on membrane transport, 45Ca fluxes, and adenosine-triphosphatase (ATPase) activities in turtle bladder. In the intact membrane, the calcium ionophore decreased proton secretion and sodium transport [short-circuit current (SCC)] to approximately the same degree (by approximately 55% at 30 min). During the same period of time, verapamil decreased SCC (by approximately 58%), but proton secretion was unaffected. The turtle bladder membrane is composed predominantly of two cell types: 1) the mitochondrial-rich cells (MR cells) thought to be involved in proton (and bicarbonate) secretion containing significant H(+)-ATPase and Ca(2+)-ATPase and 2) the granular cells (G cells), postulated important in sodium reabsorption, having abundant Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase. That Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity was unchanged by either a calcium ionophore or a calcium channel blocker suggests that the decrease in SCC noted in the intact membrane is not directly mediated by changes in the sodium "pump." The decrease of H(+)-ATPase in MR cells, which resulted after the A-23187, suggests that it probably exerts a direct action on the proton pump, which decreases hydrogen ion secretion. The increase in ATP-dependent 45Ca transport seen after the ionophore (or the decrease in ATP-independent 45Ca transport after verapamil) most likely reflects increased (or decreased) Ca2+ availability within the cytosol, and the high (or low) cell calcium could decrease the SCC. These results thus suggest that cytosolic Ca2+ reciprocally sets, by different mechanisms, the rate of proton secretion in MR cells and the sodium reabsorption in G cells.

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