The Action of Salts and Non-Electrolytes upon Buffer Solutions and Amphoteric Electrolytes and the Relation of these Effects to the Permeability of the Cell

THE INFLUENCE OF pH UPON THE CONCENTRATION POTENTIALS ACROSS THE SKIN OF THE FROG

The production of concentration P.D.'s across the skin of the frog is very intimately related to the pH of the applied solutions. On the alkaline side of an isoelectric point the dilute solution is electropositive; on the acid side this solution becomes electronegative. When the pH is suddenly lowered from a value more alkaline than this isoelectric point to one considerably more acid the change in polarity may occur within a few seconds. The effect is reversible. When a series of unbuffered solutions at different pH values are applied reversal curves may be obtained. When the concentration gradient is .1 N-.001 N KCl the reversal points lie between pH 4.1 and 4.8. When studied in acetate buffers this electromotive reversal is found to be closely correlated with the electrical charge upon the membrane, as determined by electroendosmosis through it. Reversal occurs between pH 4.9 and 5.2. It is concluded that the electromotive behavior of this material is controlled by some ampholyte, or group of ampholytes, within the membrane. This ampholyte is probably a protein. On both sides of their isoelectric point these membranes, in common with protein membranes, behave as if they retarded or prevented the movement through them of ions of the same electrical sign as they themselves bear, while permitting the movement of ions of the opposite sign. It is suggested that this correlation arises because of electrostatic effects between the charged surfaces and ions in the solution.