Catecholamine-activated sodium/proton exchange in red blood cells of the marine teleost Gadus morhua

The effects of catecholamines on the pH and the cellular ion and water content were investigated in red blood cells from the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Noradrenaline induced a rapid decrease in the extracellular pH (pHe) of red blood cells suspended in a CO2/bicarbonate or in a CO2/bicarbonate-fre...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: M. Berenbrink, C. R. Bridges
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1994
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.548.7310
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/192/1/253.full.pdf
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Summary:The effects of catecholamines on the pH and the cellular ion and water content were investigated in red blood cells from the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Noradrenaline induced a rapid decrease in the extracellular pH (pHe) of red blood cells suspended in a CO2/bicarbonate or in a CO2/bicarbonate-free buffer system. The noradrenaline-induced changes in pHe were a saturable function of the external sodium ion concentration and were inhibited by amiloride but not by DIDS (4,49-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,29-disulphonic acid, final concentration of both 1024 mol l21). The catecholamine-induced extracellular acidification was accompanied by an intracellular alkalization and protons were moved from their electrochemical equilibrium. Proton extrusion was associated with an increase in the red blood cell sodium and chloride concentrations. In the presence of DIDS, the chloride movements were blocked and the net proton efflux under these conditions matched the net sodium influx. The results strongly suggested the activation of a sodium/proton exchanger by catecholamines in the red blood cells of the Atlantic cod. The red blood cell receptor affinity for adrenaline was three times higher than that for noradrenaline. Comparison with data in the literature for in vivo catecholamine concentrations indicated that adrenaline was more effective than noradrenaline in activating the red blood cell sodium/proton exchanger in the Atlantic cod in vivo.