2--7--bis(carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein and Alkalosis

The presence of one acidifying Cl-/HCO3- exchange mechanism in human platelets has not been previously reported. This paper demonstrates that this mechanism does function and that it increases its activity after stimulation with thrombin. On resuspension of BCECF-loaded platelets in a chloride-free medium (gluconate replaced) that contains bicarbonate, cytosolic pH (pHi) increased and stabilized after 10 min at an alkaline value. After addition of 50 mM NaCl, pHi fell rapidly reaching steady state in the succeeding 5 min. The stilbene derivative 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanato stilbene-2,2' disulfonic acid (SITS) inhibited both, the alkalization in chloride-poor solution and the recovery from the alkaline load after chloride enrichment. The decline in pHi was observed whether chloride was delivered to the solution in the form of LiCl or NaCl, or when the later was applied after blockage of the Na+/H+ exchanger. The recovery in chloride-containing solution was in contrast to the effect of a similar change in osmolarity by addition of 50 mM sodium gluconate that did not produced a significant variation of pHi. Posterior addition of NaCl after 5 min in high gluconate reproduced the pHi fall of the control experiment. Alkali loads produced by 25 mM trimethylamine hydrochloride (TMA) were also counteracted by HCO(3-)-equivalent efflux via Cl-/HCO3- exchange. One of the major observations of the present study is that HCO3- equivalent efflux was twice as high when the platelets were previously stimulated with 0.1 IU of thrombin, but thrombin did not produce significant changes of the pHi recovery rate in a bicarbonate-free solution. The increase of the decline in pHi elicited by preexposure to thrombin was still observed in the presence of an inhibitor of the Na+/H+ exchange or in sodium-free solutions. It is concluded that a Na-independent Cl-/HCO3- exchange mechanism mediates the recovery of pHi from alkalosis in platelets and that thrombin activates this exchanger by a direct regulatory pathway.

Topics: Alkalosis; Bicarbonates; Blood Platelets; Cells, Cultured; Chloride-Bicarbonate Antiporters; Fluoresceins; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Kinetics; Sodium Chloride; Thrombin

We investigated acid-base permeability properties of electrically resistive monolayers of alveolar epithelial cells (AEC) grown in primary culture. AEC monolayers were grown on tissue culture-treated polycarbonate filters. Filters were mounted in a partitioned cuvette containing two fluid compartments (apical and basolateral) separated by the adherent monolayer, cells were loaded with the pH-sensitive dye 2',7'-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein, and intracellular pH was determined. Monolayers in HCO-free Na(+) buffer (140 mM Na(+), 6 mM HEPES, pH 7.4) maintained a transepithelial pH gradient between the two fluid compartments over 30 min. Replacement of apical fluid by acidic (6.4) or basic (8.0) buffer resulted in minimal changes in intracellular pH. Replacement of basolateral fluid by acidic or basic buffer resulted in transmembrane proton fluxes and intracellular acidification or alkalinization. Intracellular alkalinization was blocked > or =80% by 100 microM dimethylamiloride, an inhibitor of Na(+)/H(+) exchange, whereas acidification was not affected by a series of acid/base transport inhibitors. Additional experiments in which AEC monolayers were grown in the presence of acidic (6.4) or basic (8.0) medium revealed differential effects on bioelectric properties depending on whether extracellular pH was altered in apical or basolateral fluid compartments bathing the cells. Acid exposure reduced (and base exposure increased) short-circuit current from the basolateral side; apical exposure did not affect short-circuit current in either case. We conclude that AEC monolayers are relatively impermeable to transepithelial acid/base fluxes, primarily because of impermeability of intercellular junctions and of the apical, rather than basolateral, cell membrane. The principal basolateral acid exit pathway observed under these experimental conditions is Na(+)/H(+) exchange, whereas proton uptake into cells occurs across the basolateral cell membrane by a different, undetermined mechanism. These results are consistent with the ability of the alveolar epithelium to maintain an apical-to-basolateral (air space-to-blood) pH gradient in situ.

Topics: 4,4'-Diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-Disulfonic Acid; Acid-Base Equilibrium; Acidosis; Alkalosis; Animals; Cell Membrane Permeability; Cell Polarity; Epithelial Cells; Extravascular Lung Water; Fluoresceins; Fluorescent Dyes; Male; Pulmonary Alveoli; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Respiratory Mucosa; Sodium; Sodium-Hydrogen Exchangers

In this study, we investigated the role of Na+/H+ antiport in regulating cytosolic (intracellular) pH (pHi) in isolated and cultured ferret pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PSMC). We also studied the effects of modulating pHi on the cytosolic (intracellular) calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) in the PSMC and on the pulmonary arterial pressure (Ppa) of isolated ferret lungs. pHi was modulated by the NH4Cl washout method. To eliminate the contribution of Cl-/HCO3- exchangers, the PSMC and isolated lungs were perfused in HCO3- free buffer. Blocking the Na+/H+ antiporter decreased baseline pHi and prevented the recovery from NH4Cl washout-induced intracellular acidosis. Intracellular alkalinization caused an initial transient increase in both [Ca2+]i and Ppa that were dependent on extracellular Ca2+ entry. Maintaining cytosolic alkalinization caused another increase in Ppa that was not associated with an increase in [Ca2+]i. Intracellular acidosis also caused an increase in [Ca2+]i and Ppa. The cytosolic acidosis-induced increase in [Ca2+]i and Ppa were mediated by both extracellular Ca2+ influx and release of stored intracellular Ca2+. Cytosolic acidosis also appears to have a direct effect on the smooth muscle contractile elements. Both cytosolic alkalosis and acidosis increased vascular reactivity.

Topics: Acidosis; Alkalosis; Animals; Calcium; Cytosol; Ferrets; Fluoresceins; Fluorescence; Fluorescent Dyes; Homeostasis; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; In Vitro Techniques; Indoles; Male; Muscle Contraction; Muscle Tonus; Muscle, Smooth; Potassium Chloride; Pulmonary Artery; Sodium; Sodium-Hydrogen Exchangers; Vasoconstriction