Turnover and regulation of Na-K-ATPase in HeLa cells

Volume-regulatory responses of Amphiuma red cells in anisotonic media. The effect of amiloride

Amphiuma red cells were incubated for several hours in hypotonic or hypertonic media. They regulate their volume in both media by using ouabain-insensitive salt transport mechanisms. After initially enlarging osmotically, cells in hypotonic media return toward their original size by losing K, Cl, and H2O. During this volume-regulatory decrease (VRD) response, K loss results from a greater than 10-fold increase in K efflux. Cells in hypertonic media initially shrink osmotically, but then return toward their original volume by gaining Na, Cl, and H2O. The volume-regulatory increase (VRI) response involves a large (greater than 100-fold) increase in Na uptake that is entirely blocked by the diuretic amiloride (10(-3) M). Na transport in the VRI response shares many of the characteristics of amiloride-sensitive transport in epithelia: (a) amiloride inhibition is reversible; (b) removal of amiloride from cells pretreated with amiloride enhances Na uptake relative to untreated controls; (c) amiloride appears to act as a competitive inhibitor (Ki = 1-3 microM) of Na uptake; (d) Na uptake is a saturable function of external Na (Km approximately 29 mM); (e) Li can substitute for Na but K cannot. Anomalous Na/K pump behavior is observed in both the VRD and the VRI responses. In the VRD response, pump activity increases 3-fold despite a decrease in intracellular Na concentration, while in the VRI response, a 10-fold increase in pump activity is observed when only a doubling is predicted from increases in intracellular Na.

Sodium-dependent modulation of the renal Na-K-ATPase: influence of mineralocorticoids on the cortical collecting duct

Mineralocorticoids play a major role in the regulation of sodium transport in a variety of tissues, including the cortical collecting duct (CCD) of the mammalian nephron. To assess, in part, the underlying mechanism(s) of this control, the present studies were designed to evaluate, first, the influence of mineralocorticoids on the Na-K-ATPase activity in the rabbit CCD and, secondly, a possible role of sodium entry into the cell at the luminal border on the regulation of the Na-K-ATPase. In the first series of studies, rabbits were maintained on a low sodium diet which raised serum aldosterone levels from 16 to 70 ng/dl after 3-4 days, with further elevations being expressed with treatment for two weeks or more. In CCDs isolated from these animals, the Na-K-ATPase increased from 13 to 40 pmol ADP min-1 mm-1 after 3-4 days on the low sodium regimen, but then declined, returning to control values after approximately 2 weeks. This decline in activity was preceded by a decrease in the Na+ concentration of the urine to low levels and hence, likely coincided with a decreased delivery of sodium to, and sodium entry into the cells of, the CCD. If dietary manipulations were used to maintain a high delivery of sodium to the CCD in the animal, elevation of plasma mineralocorticoid levels by treatment with deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) caused a similar elevation in the Na-K-ATPase activity after 3-4 days, which did not decline with continued treatment for up to 2 weeks. Furthermore, it was observed that mineralocorticoids only exerted their effect on the Na-K-ATPase after a latent period of 1 day, well after sodium excretion had fallen, indicating that sodium entry into the CCD cells was already stimulated. If animals were simultaneously treated with DOCA and the sodium channel blocker amiloride for 3-4 days, the effects on the Na-K-ATPase were markedly reduced, whereas amiloride treatment alone had no effect on the enzyme activity. Since others have shown that mineralocorticoids induce synthesis of the Na-K-ATPase subunits in toad bladder cells in an amiloride-insensitive manner, sodium must be exerting its effect on a process after translation. It is concluded that the initial effect of mineralocorticoids in the CCD is on sodium entry with a delayed induction of the Na-K-ATPase, which is regulated by Na-dependent modulation of a posttranslational process.

Transport functions of the liver. Lack of correlation between hepatocellular ouabain uptake and binding to (Na+ + K+)-ATPase

Ouabain uptake was studied on isolated rat hepatocytes. Hepatocellular uptake of the glycoside is saturable (Km = 348 mumol/l, Vmax = 1.4 nmol/mg cell protein per min), energy dependent and accumulative. Concentrative ouabain uptake is not present on permeable hepatocytes, Ehrlich ascites tumor cells and AS-30D ascites hepatoma cells. There is no correlation between ouabain binding to rat liver (Na+ + K+)ATPase and ouabain uptake into isolated rat hepatocytes. While ouabain uptake is competitively inhibited by cevadine, binding to (Na+ + K+)-ATPase is not affected by the alkaloid. Although the affinities of digitoxin and ouabain to (Na+ + K+)-ATPase are similar, digitoxin is 10000-times more potent in inhibiting [3H]ouabain uptake as compared to ouabain. That binding to (Na+ + K+)-ATPase appears to be no precondition for ouabain uptake was also found in experiments with plasmamembranes derived from Ehrlich ascites tumor cells and AS-30D hepatoma cells. While tumor cell (Na+ + K+)-ATPase is ouabain sensitive, the intact cells are transport deficient. Hepatic ouabain uptake might be related to bile acid transport. Several inhibitors of the bile acid uptake system also inhibit ouabain uptake.

Regulation of Na+,K+-ATPase activity in MDCK kidney epithelial cell cultures: role of growth state, cyclic AMP, and chemical inducers of dome formation and differentiation

Na+,K+-ATPase activity was monitored in MDCK kidney epithelial cell monolayers and in cell extracts as a function of cell density, cAMP elevation, and exposure to hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA) and dimethylsulfoxide (Me2SO). Ouabain-sensitive Na+,K+-ATPase and 86Rb+ uptake activities, and the number of [3H]-ouabain binding sites were maximal in subconfluent cultures and decreased accompanying the development of a confluent monolayer. A sodium pump density of 8 X 10(7) pumps/cell was estimated for subconfluent cultures, declining to 9 X 10(5) pumps/cell at confluence. Previous studies have shown that dibutyryl cyclic AMP (Bt2cAMP), 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine (IBMX), or the differentiation inducers HMBA and Me2SO, which also caused cAMP elevation, all stimulated dome formation, a visible manifestation of active transepithelial Na+ and water transport (Lever, 1979). In the present study, all of these inducers were found to elevate intracellular Na+ content, implicating this variable in control of induction of dome formation. Operationally, inducers could be divided into two classes. HMBA and Me2SO partially inhibited ouabain-sensitive 86Rb+ influx. Ouabain, at a concentration that caused partial sodium pump inhibition and increased intracellular Na+ content, was also effective as an inducer. The second class, exemplified by IBMX and Bt2cAMP caused a furosemide-sensitive increase in intracellular Na+ content. This class of inducers stimulated ouabain-sensitive 86Rb+ uptake, presumably by substrate effects due to increased Na+ levels. The Na+ or ATP activation of Na+,K+-ATPase activity assayed in cell-free extracts, the affinity of the transport system for Rb+ in intact cells and intracellular ATP levels were unchanged by inducer treatment. Elevation of intracellular Na+ concentration, either by cAMP-stimulated, furosemide-sensitive mechanisms or by partial inhibition of the sodium pump may stimulate the induction of dome formation in MDCK cells.

Kinetic parameters and mechanism of active cation transport in HeLa cells as studied by Rb+ influx

On incubation of HeLa cells in chilled isotonic medium, intracellular Na+ (Nac+) increased and K+ (Kc+) decreased with time, reaching steady levels after 3 h. The steady levels varied in parallel with the extracellular cation concentrations ([Na+]e, [K+]e). The cell volumes and the protein and water contents, respectively, of cells kept for 3 h in chilled media of various [Na+]e and [K+]e were not significantly different. Ouabain-sensitive Rb+ influx took place at the initial rate for a certain period which depended on [Na+]c at the beginning of the assays. The existence of two external K+ loading sites per Na+/K+-pump was demonstrated. The affinities of the sites for Rb+ as a congener of K+ were almost the same. Na+e inhibited ouabain-sensitive Rb+ influx competitively, whereas K+ was not inhibitory. Kinetic parameters were determined: the K 1/2 for Rbe+ in the absence of Na+e was 0.16 mM and th Ki for Na+e was 36.8 mM; the K 1/2 for Na+c was 19.5 mM and the Ki for K+c seemed to be extremely large. The rate equation of the ouabain-sensitive Rb+ influx suggests that Na+ and K+ are exchanged alternately through the pump by a binary mechanism.

Effects of growth in low potassium medium or ouabain on membrane Na,K-ATPase, cation transport, and contractility in cultured chick heart cells

Growth of cultured cells in low potassium medium has been shown to result in an increase in the number of Na,K-ATPase sites. This phenomenon and its physiological and pharmacological consequences were examined in spontaneously beating monolayers of cultured chick heart cells. Growth of cells in 1 mM extracellular potassium, 2 microM ouabain, or 1 microM veratridine for 48 hours caused 60%, 40%, or 20% increases, respectively, in the total number of specific ouabain binding sites measurable in intact cells. Acute exposure of control cells grown in 4 mM to 1 mM extracellular potassium caused elevation of steady state [Na+]i by 37%, while 1 microM veratridine exposure increased [Na+]i by 12%. After 48 hours of growth in 1 mM extracellular potassium, intracellular sodium concentrations declined to near-control levels. In cells grown in low extracellular potassium and then equilibrated with 4 mM potassium for 30 minutes, the positive inotropic effects of 1 mM extracellular potassium and 0.3 microM isoproterenol, expressed as a percent of contractile response to 3.6 mM calcium, were 40 +/- 6% and 37 +/- 5% (means +/- SEM), respectively, in low potassium-grown cells, compared with 63 +/- 8% and 35 +/- 4% in control cells. Growth of cells in low potassium shifted the concentration-effect curve for ouabain to the right. The rapid component of calcium uptake in zero extracellular sodium was significantly lower in low potassium-grown cells than in control cells after equilibration in 1 mM extracellular potassium for 30 minutes. These findings demonstrate that prolonged exposure of cultured heart cells to 1 mM extracellular potassium or ouabain causes induction of additional functional sarcolemmal sodium pump sites. The increased levels of intracellular sodium caused by these interventions appear to be an important determinant of sodium pump site density. The reduced contractile response of cells grown in 1 mM extracellular potassium and ouabain (but not isoproterenol) supports the view that elevated intracellular sodium due to Na,K-ATPase inhibition mediates the positive inotropic response to low extracellular potassium and ouabain, probably via augmented transsarcolemmal sodium-calcium exchange. In addition, our results support a mechanism of inotropic action of digitalis glycosides based on inhibition of the sodium pump rather than altered calcium binding properties of sarcolemmal sites due to cardiac glycoside binding to Na,K-ATPase.

Cardiac glycoside receptors in cultured heart cells--II. Characterization of a high affinity and a low affinity binding site in heart muscle cells from neonatal rats

The binding of [3H]ouabain has been studied in (Na+ + K+)-ATPase enriched cardiac cell membranes, as well as in cardiac muscle and non-muscle cells in culture--all obtained from hearts of neonatal rats. The binding has been correlated with ouabain-induced inhibition of (Na+ + K+)-ATPase (cardiac cell membranes) and the inhibition of active (86Rb+ + K+)-influx (cardiac muscle and non-muscle cells in culture). Furthermore, the effect of ouabain on the amplitude of cell-wall motion and contraction velocity has been studied in electrically driven cardiac muscle cells. In muscle and non-muscle cells, two classes of ouabain binding sites have been identified. In rat heart muscle cells, the high affinity binding site has a dissociation constant (KD) of 3.2 X 10(-8) M and a binding capacity (B) of 0.2 pmole/mg protein (80,000 sites/cell); the values for the low affinity binding site are: KD = 7.1 X 10(-6) M; B = 2.6 pmole/mg protein (10(6) sites/cell). The binding to both types of binding sites is depressed by K+ and abolished after heat denaturation of the cells. The kinetics of [3H]ouabain binding to rat heart muscle cells (association and dissociation rate constants, K+- and temperature-dependence of association and dissociation processes) have been characterized. In rat heart muscle and non-muscle cells, the binding of [3H]ouabain to the low affinity site results in inhibition of the (86Rb+ + K+)-influx (EC50 = 1.3 and 1.5 X 10(-5) M ouabain), a decrease in cell-K+ (EC50 = 1.9 and 1.4 X 10(-5) M) and an increase in cell-Na+ (10(-5)-10(-4) M). The ouabain-induced positive inotropic effect (increase in amplitude of cell-wall motion, increase in contraction velocity) in cardiac muscle cells is observed only at ouabain concentrations greater than or equal to 5 X 10(-6) M, and it is therefore probably attributed to occupation of the low affinity binding site. Coupling of occupation of the low affinity site by ouabain with drug-induced inhibition of the sodium pump and with drug-induced positive inotropic action is further substantiated by kinetic measurements. In contrast, occupation of the high affinity binding site does not produce any measurable inhibition of the sodium pump activity or positive inotropy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Rb+ influx in response to changes in energy generation: effect of the regulation of the ATP content of HeLa cells

The effect of changes in energy metabolism on Rb+ influx was studied in HeLa cells. Irrespective of whether ATP production was controlled by varying the activity of glycolysis or of oxidative metabolism on addition of certain combinations of glucose, carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone, monoiodoacetic acid, and quercetin, Rb+ influx changed as a linear function of the ATP content, which varied in a wide range up to the normal level (15-20 nmol/mg protein or 3-4 mM). The difference between results obtained by these procedures was not significant. As the intracellular Na+ content varied at different ATP contents, the Na+ content was adjusted to similar levels by chilling the cells with varying ATP contents. However, a linear relation was still observed. A similar dependence was also obtained for cytoplasmic ATP, which would be more closely connected with the Na,K-pump than total ATP. The ratio of ouabain-sensitive Rb+ influx to the corresponding part of lactate production was nearly 2 in the presence of 2 mM glucose. From these results it is concluded that (1) active Rb+ influx, which is chiefly maintained by energy generated through glycolysis, can also be supported by oxidative metabolism; (2) Rb+ influx is regulated linearly as a function of the cellular ATP content up to the control level; but does not increase if ATP is raised still further; and (3) 2 Rb+ ions move concomitantly at the expense of one ATP molecule.

Cardiac glycoside receptors in cultured heart cells--I. Characterization of one single class of high affinity receptors in heart muscle cells from chick embryos

Binding of (3H)-ouabain and ouabain-induced inhibition of the sodium pump and of the (Na+ + K+)-ATPase have been characterized in cultured cardiac muscle and non muscle cells, as well as in cardiac cell membranes--all obtained from chick embryos. In both cell types, ouabain binds to a single type of binding sites in a temperature-dependent manner. The association rate but not the dissociation rate, is lowered by K+; specific binding is lost after heat-denaturation of the cells. Binding parameters (association and dissociation rate constants, activation energies for association and dissociation) are similar in muscle and non muscle cells. The dissociation constant of specific ouabain binding is 1.5 X 10(-7)M in cardiac muscle cells, and 1.9 X 10(-7)M in cardiac non muscle cells, the binding capacity being 2.6 and 2.1 pmoles/mg protein respectively. Specific binding of ouabain to the cells is coupled to inhibition of the sodium pump, as can be seen from ouabain-induced inhibition of active (86Rb+ + K+)-uptake, decrease in cellular K+, and increase in cellular Na+ (EC50 = 10(-7)-10(-6)M). The data obtained with cardiac cells are in good agreement with results found for ouabain binding (dissociation constant 4.3 X 10(-7)M) and (Na+ + K+)-ATPase inhibition (EC50 = 1.4 X 10(-6)M) in cardiac cell membranes prepared from the same tissue. Due to the experimental evidence it is concluded that the binding site for ouabain is identical with the cardiac glycoside receptor of these cells. In cardiac non muscle cells, binding of ouabain to its receptor is strictly coupled to inhibition of active K+-transport in a stoichiometric manner. In cardiac muscle cells, however, active K+-transport is inhibited by less than 10% when up to 40% of cardiac glycoside receptors have bound ouabain. It is assumed that this non-stoichiometric coupling of receptor occupancy and sodium pump inhibition in cardiac muscle cells may prevent substantial changes of Na+- and K+-contents in the heart in the presence of therapeutic levels of cardiac glycosides.

The effects of chloroquine and other weak bases on the accumulation and efflux of digoxin and ouabain in HeLa cells

We have studied the effects of the weak bases chloroquine, NH4Cl and amantadine on the handling of certain cardiac glycosides by HeLa cells. When these weak bases are applied acutely to HeLa cells they have only minor effects on the binding of cardiac glycosides to the sodium pumps and on the recovery of pump function following block. When cells are grown in these weak bases there is a variable (10-30%) reduction in pump numbers. This effect is additive to that of chronic treatment with cardiac glycosides. If all sodium pumps are blocked with ouabain, digoxin or digitoxin then recovery of function recovers with a T1/2 of about 7 h (10% h-1); digoxin and digitoxin molecules are excreted at a similar rate but ouabain excretion occurs at a much slower rate (3% h-1). These weak bases greatly slow (x 3) the rate of excretion of digoxin and digitoxin but do not alter that of ouabain. The process affected by chloroquine was estimated to have a T1/2 of 8 h. Cells grown in the presence of cardiac glycosides accumulate large numbers of glycoside molecules; chloroquine, NH4Cl and amantadine increase the accumulation of digoxin and digitoxin and may decrease that of ouabain. Quantitatively these results fit a model whereby cardiac glycosides are accumulated by HeLa cells bound to the sodium pumps, are processed by the lysosomes and then excreted. The results are consistent with a process of internalisation and renewal of sodium pumps by HeLa cells.

Altered potassium homeostasis in Crohn's disease

The total body potassium (TBK), serum potassium, and the number of red blood cell ouabain-binding sites was studied in 94 patients with Crohn's disease. TBK was measured by counting the endogenous 40K in a whole body counter. TBK was 87% +/- 13% in 94 patients with Crohn's disease, while in control subjects, it was 97% +/- 12% (n = 24). This significant reduction in TBK was accompanied by normal serum potassium levels (4.4 +/- 0.5 mM). TBK was significantly correlated with the Crohn's disease activity index (r = 0.79, n = 113, P less than 0.01). The number of red cell ouabain binding sites measured by equilibrium binding of 3H-ouabain showed a significant increase in the number of Na-K pumps in Crohn's disease (396 +/- 65, n = 27) compared with the control group (290 +/- 45; n = 24). These results support the suggestion that changes in TBK may regulate the synthesis of Na-K pump molecules. The total body potassium depletion and the need for a preoperative nutritional support in Crohn's disease are discussed.

Intracellular K+ and the mitogenic response of 3T3 cells to peptide factors in serum-free medium

The stimulation of DNA synthesis in cultures of Swiss 3T3 cells by vasopressin, epidermal growth factor, and insulin added in serum-free medium is strikingly dependent on the intracellular K+ content or concentration. The relationship between these parameters is sigmoid; DNA synthesis commences only when the intracellular K+ increases above a certain threshold level (0.56 mumol/mg of protein; 90 mM). Addition of K+ to K+- depleted cultures reverses the block on DNA synthesis after a lag period of at least 8 hr. The sigmoid dependence of DNA synthesis on intracellular K+ is generated in early G1 phase rather than at the G1/S boundary. The effects of K+ on the G1-S transition are, at least in part, exerted through its control of protein synthesis. In serum-free medium, the K+ content is close to the threshold required for allowing a mitogenic response. The findings suggest that a small change in the intracellular K+ level can influence the ability of these cells to initiate DNA synthesis in serum-free medium.

Uptake of [3H]ouabain from the cell surface into the lysosomal compartment of HeLa cells

[3H]Ouabain specifically bound at sublethal concentrations to Na,K-ATPase on the surface of HeLa cells is taken up (internalized) by the cells at a rate of three membrane equivalents of labeled sites per generation. Immediately following a pulse label with the glycoside, codistribution of radioactivity with the surface marker 5'-nucleotidase is found in both conventional sucrose-gradient fractionation and in fractionation following a digitonin treatment. At appropriate concentrations digitonin increases the buoyant density of the HeLa surface membrane and solubilizes the lysosomal marker beta-hexosaminidase (Tulkens et al., 1974). After internalization, [3H]ouabain is also solubilized by digitonin. A shear analysis is described which shows internalized ouabain and beta-hexosaminidase to be codistributed in a particulate fraction that is homogeneous with respect to shear; extrapolation to zero-shear shows that little or none of either marker is found in the soluble fraction of the cytosol. Both markers are coreleased from the particulate fraction by osmotic shock. Although internalized ouabain is subsequently released from these cells with a half-time of about 70 hr, apparently by exocytosis, the shear sensitivity of the remaining cell-associated ouabain does not change for up to 72 hr. Thus ouabain (together with Na,K-ATPase?) appears to be taken up from the surface into a lysosomal compartment and, by at least one criterion, this compartment does not change its physical properties with time, i.e., does not "age."