Active calcium transport in red cell ghosts resealed in dextran solutions

Metabolic control of the K+ channel of human red cells

The effects of cAMP, ATP and GTP on the Ca2(+)-dependent K+ channel of fresh (1-2 days) or cold-stored (28-36 days) human red cells were studied using atomic absorption flame photometry of Ca2(+)-EGTA loaded ghosts which had been resealed to monovalent cations in dextran solution. When high-K+ ghosts were incubated in an isotonic Na+ medium, the rate constant of Ca2(+)-dependent K+ efflux was reduced by a half on increasing the theophylline concentration to 40 mM. This effect was observed in ghosts from both fresh and stored cells, but only if they were previously loaded with ATP. The inhibition was more marked when Mg2+ was added together with ATP, and it was abolished by raising free Ca2+ to the micromolar level. Like theophylline, isobutyl methylxanthine (10 mM) also affected K+ efflux. cAMP (0.2-0.5 mM), added both internally and externally (as free salt, dibutyryl or bromide derivatives), had no significant effect on K+ loss when the ghost free-Ca2+ level was below 1 microM, but it was slightly inhibitory at higher concentrations. The combined presence of cAMP (0.2 mM) plus either theophylline (10 mM), or isobutyl methylxanthine (0.5 mM), was more effective than cAMP alone. This inhibition showed a strict requirement for ATP plus Mg2+ and it was not overcome by raising internal Ca2+. Ghosts from stored cells seemed more sensitive than those from fresh cells, to the combined action of cAMP and methylxanthines. Loading ATP into ghosts from fresh or stored cells markedly decreased K+ loss. Although this effect was observed in the absence of added Mg2+ (0.5 mM EDTA present), it was potentiated upon adding 2 mM Mg2+. The K+ efflux from ATP-loaded ghosts was not altered by dithio-bis-nitrobenzoic acid (10 mM) or acridine orange (100 microM), while it was increased two- to fourfold by incubating with MgF2 (10 mM), or MgF2 (10 mM) + theophylline (40 mM), respectively. By contrast, a marked efflux reduction was obtained by incorporating 0.5 mM GTP into ATP-containing ghosts. The degree of phosphorylation obtained by incubating membranes with (gamma-32P)ATP under various conditions affecting K+ channel activity, was in direct correspondence to their effect on K+ efflux. The results suggest that the K+ channel of red cells is under complex metabolic control, via cAMP-mediated and nonmediated mechanisms, some which require ATP and presumably, involve phosphorylation of the channel proteins.

Electrogenic behavior of the human red cell Ca2+ pump revealed by disulfonic stilbenes

A systematic study was made of the action of 4-acet-amido-4'-isothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (SITS) and 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS) on active Ca2+ transport of human erythrocytes. Pumping activity was estimated in inside-out vesicles (IOV's) by means of Ca2+-selective electrodes or use of tracer 45Ca2+. The stilbenes exhibited an approximately equal inhibitory potency and their action could be overcome by carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP) at low but not at high stilbene concentrations. In the absence of DIDS, Ca2+ transport was not affected upon addition of valinomycin, but it was appreciably reduced when vesicles were preincubated with low DIDS concentrations. Such an effect was strictly dependent on the external K+ concentration and it was abolished when valinomycin was added together with FCCP. Similar results were obtained using IOV's prepared from intact cells which had been previously exposed to the stilbene. The findings clearly demonstrate the presence in human red cells of a partially electrogenic Ca2+ pump, exchanging one Ca2+ ion for one proton.

Passive permeability of human red blood cells to calcium

Ca2+ influx was measured into human erythrocytes in which efflux was blocked by either introduction of an intracellular Ca2+ chelator, introduction of the Ca2+ chelator followed by ATP depletion, or depletion of the Ca2+ pump cofactors ATP and Mg2+. The Ca2+ influx under all three conditions was 14-20 mumol . 1 cells-1 . h-1, which is an order of magnitude higher than the influx previously reported for cells depleted of either ATP or Mg2+ separately. The difference between the two values was explained by the finding of substantial Ca2+ efflux from the Ca2+-loaded ATP-depleted cells, whereas this efflux was insignificant from cells loaded with quin 2 and then ATP depleted. Under these latter conditions Ca2+ influx estimates the unidirectional permeability to this cation. Studies using this technique showed that Ca2+ influx was the same in media of isotonic sodium, potassium, lithium, choline, or magnesium chlorides. Moreover the dependence of Ca2+ influx on external Ca2+ concentration was well described by the sum of saturable and nonsaturable (linear) components.

The modulation of the calcium pump of human red cells by Na+ and K+

The sidedness of Ca2+-pump activation by Na+ and K+ was studied by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in human erythrocyte ghosts, which had been prepared in dextran solutions and resealed to alkali cations. When ghosts were incubated in an all-choline medium, the increase in Na+i elicited an inhibitory-stimulatory effect on Ca2+ extrusion. By contrast, only a stimulatory action was induced when choline was replaced by Na+o. A dual effect on active Ca2+ efflux was also produced by increasing K+i or K+o. The biphasic response to the latter, however, was absent from high-K+ ghosts. Furthermore, the stimulation obtained at high K+o was additive to that elicited by K+i. The results suggest that Na+ and K+ stimulate the Ca2+ pump of human red cells through two different mechanisms. The first one appears to be an electric coupling between Ca2+ efflux and the external activating cation. The other seems associated with the molecular reactions of the Ca2+-pump protein.

The effects of alkali metal ions on active Ca2+ transport in reconstituted ghosts from human red cells

1. K+, Rb+ or Na+ increase from 30 to 90% the maximum rate of Ca2+ transport from resealed ghosts, leaving unaltered the apparent affinity of the Ca2+ pump for Ca2+. Li+ is ineffective as activator of Ca2+ transport. 2. K+ does not change the temperature dependence of Ca2+ transport. 3. The effects of K+ and Na+ are half-maximal at 4.6 mM and 24 mM, respectively. 4. The site(s) at which K+ or Na+ combine are accessible only from the cytoplasmic surface of the cell membrane. 5. Under conditions in which Na+ activates the Ca2+ pump no Na+ efflux coupled to Ca2+ efflux is apparent.

Stability of erythrocyte ghosts: a gamma-ray perturbed angular correlation study

The structural integrity of erythrocyte ghosts made by the preswell and slow-dialysis techniques has been studied in vitro by use of gamma-ray perturbed angular correlation (PAC) techniques and also by standard in vitro leakage methods employing sequestered labeled markers. Complexes of 111In3+ and nitrilotriacetate were encapsulated in ghosts made from human, rabbit, rat, and mouse erythrocytes, and their leakage was monitored by both methods. In addition, 125I-labeled bovine serum albumin was encapsulated, and ghost integrity was monitored by conventional leakage measurements. With the PAC technique the percentage of material released from human ghosts was determined quantitatively, and the results were equivalent to those obtained by the conventional method. In addition, at various times after intravenous injection, tissue distribution of the ghosts in the mouse was studied. The percent injected dose per gram of tissue of the labeled surface proteins of erythrocyte ghosts in circulation approximated that of the entrapped labeled albumin. This suggests that the ghost membrane and contents are strongly associated in vivo. Large 125I-labeled bovine serum albumin molecules and small 111In3+-nitrilotriacetate complexes were delivered in high quantitites to the lung initially, and to the liver and spleen. Because erythrocyte ghosts have the ability to entrap a wide range of substances and deliver them to specific organs, ghosts may be preferable to other drug carriers or drug therapy for treatment of certain disorders.

Calcium ions, drug action and the red cell membrane

Intracellular calcium regulates a number of membrane functions in the erythrocyte, including control of shape, membrane lipid composition and cation permeability. Measurement of total red cell calcium has yielded values between 5 and 15 nmol/ml cells, and these low values in part reflect the absence of Ca2+ -containing organelles. Most intracellular Ca2+ is bound and the low cell ionized Ca2+ concentration (approximately 0.2 microM) is maintained by a combination of low membrane permeability and a powerful Ca2+ -pump. This pump has been identified with a (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-stimulated ATPase, and both Ca2+ transport and ATP splitting are stimulated by calmodulin, a low molecular weight protein which binds Ca2+ avidly and activates many Ca2+ -dependent enzymes. Both high and low affinity kinetics for Ca2+ pumping have been demonstrated, depending on the extent of binding of calmodulin to the pump. A stoichiometry of either 1 or 2 Ca2+ ions pumped per ATP molecule split has been shown, and the value may vary with the level of intracellular Ca2+. Phenothiazines, such as chlorpromazine inhibit the Ca2+ -pump by antagonizing the increment in activity produced by calmodulin. The passive inward leak of Ca2+ into erythrocytes can be quantitated by 45Ca2+ uptake into red cells whose Ca2+ -pump has been inhibited. Estimates of the Ca2+ permeability, based on unidirectional influx, yield values many orders of magnitude lower than for nucleated cells. Influx of Ca2+ into human erythrocytes occurs by a facilitated diffusion process, which can be inhibited by phenothiazines and the cinchona alkaloids. Calcium affects many membrane functions including cation permeability, lipid composition and some cytoskeletal interactions which may determine cell shape. Any rise in intracellular Ca2+ activates a specific K+ channel which normally makes little contribution to K+ fluxes. Kinetic studies of this process demonstrate either high or low affinity Ca2+ -activation of K+ efflux, with low affinity of the channel to Ca2+ being the probable state in vivo. Propranolol is the best known activator of Ca2+ -stimulated K+ efflux, although the mechanism of stimulation is unclear. Like other tissues, red cells possess a Ca2+ -activated phosphoinositol phosphodiesterase. Although it has been suggested that the echinocytic shape change induced by Ca2+ is due to the hydrolysis of polyphosphoinositides, it seems more likely that this shape change results from an effect of Ca2+ on the macromolecular interactions of the cytoskeleton. Abnormal Ca2+ permeability may contribute to red cell destruction in a variety of diseases. For example, in sickle cell anemia a large Ca2+ influx occurs when cells are sickled under deoxy conditions, and moreover, the ability of the Ca2+ -pump to extrude the increment of cell Ca2+ is impaired. Thus, red cell Ca2+ is increased 3-7-fold above normal and this may contribute to the short survival of sickle red cells...