Stimulation and inhibition by ATP and orthophosphate of the potassium-potassium exchange in resealed red cell ghosts

Probing the extracellular access channel of the Na,K-ATPase

When the Na,K-ATPase pumps at each turnover two K(+) ions into the cytoplasm, this translocation consists of several reaction steps. First, the ions diffuse consecutively from the extracellular phase through an access pathway to the binding sites where they are coordinated. In the next step, the enzyme is dephosphorylated and the ions are occluded inside the membrane domain. The subsequent transition to the E1 conformation produces a deocclusion of the binding sites to the cytoplasmic side of the membrane and allows in the last steps ion dissociation and diffusion to the aqueous phase. The interaction and competition of K(+) with various quaternary organic ammonium ions have been used to gain insight into the molecular mechanism of the ion binding process from the extracellular side in the P-E2 conformation of the enzyme. Using the electrochromic styryl dye RH421, evidence has been obtained that the access pathway consists of a wide and water-filled funnel-like part that is accessible also for bulky cations such as the benzyltriethylammonium ion, and a narrow part that permits passage only of small cations such as K(+) and NH4(+) in a distinct electrogenic way. Benzyltriethylammonium ions inhibit K(+) binding in a competitive manner that can be explained by a stopper-like function at the interface between the wide and narrow parts of the access pathway. In contrast to other quaternary organic ammonium ions, benzyltriethylammonium ions show a specific binding to the ion pump in a position inside the access pathway where it blocks effectively the access to the binding sites.

Voltage dependence of partial reactions of the Na+/K+ pump: predictions from microscopic models

A theoretical treatment of the voltage dependence of electroneutral Na+-Na+ and K+-K+ exchange mediated by the Na+/K+ pump is given. The analysis is based on the Post-Albers reaction scheme in which the overall transport process is described as a sequence of conformational transitions and ion-binding and ion-release steps. The voltage dependence of the exchange rate is determined by a set of 'dielectric coefficients' reflecting the magnitude of charge translocations associated with individual reaction steps. Charge movement may result from conformational changes of the transport protein and/or from migration of ions in an access channel connecting the binding sites with the aqueous medium. It is shown that valuable mechanistic information may be obtained by studying the voltage dependence of transport rates at different (saturating and nonsaturating) ion concentrations.

Interaction of magnesium with the sodium pump of the human red cell

1. In broken red cell membranes, Mg2+ inhibition of Na+,K+-adenosine-5'-triphosphatase (Na+,K+-ATPase) activity was partially competitive with MgATP. Mg2+ inhibition of Na+,K+-ATPase activity was uncompetitive with K+ in broken red cell membranes, and Mg2+ inhibition of ouabain-sensitive K+ influx in K+-free resealed ghosts was uncompetitive with external K+. 2. When Na+,K+-ATPase activity was measured at relatively high K+ concentration, Mg2+ inhibition was partially competitive with Na+. Mg2+ inhibition of ouabain-sensitive K+ influx in K+-free resealed ghosts was competitive with cell Na+. Magnesium was a more effective inhibitor of the uncoupled Na+ efflux in low-Na+ ghosts than in high-Na+ ghosts. 3. These findings indicate that Mg2+ inhibition results from combination of the ion with the enzyme form E2K at high intracellular Na+ and K+, and from combination with the form E1 at low intracellular Na+ and K+. 4. In ghosts containing high concentrations of MgPO4, inhibition of the K+-K+ exchange by Mg2+ was more effective at high than at low nucleotide concentrations. At high MgPO4 and low Mg2+ concentration the activity of the exchange increased monotonically with nucleotide concentration, but at a higher Mg2+ concentration, nucleotide activation of the exchange was biphasic: the K+-K+ exchange rate increased, reached a maximum, and then decreased with increasing nucleotide concentration.

Phosphate inhibition of the human red cell sodium pump: simultaneous binding of adenosine triphosphate and phosphate

1. The Na+-K+ exchange carried out by the Na+ pump of human red cell ghosts and the Na+ + K+-dependent adenosine triphosphatase (Na+,K+-ATPase) activity of human red cell membranes are inhibited by MgPO4 rather than by free phosphate; similarly, the substrate for the K+-K+ exchange carried out by the pump is MgPO4 rather than free phosphate. 2. Inhibition of the Na+, K+-ATPase activity by MgPO4 is only partially competitive (mixed type) with ATP, and MgPO4 inhibition of the Na+-K+ exchange measured in Na+-free solutions and in K+-free ghosts which contain ATP at relatively high concentration is partially uncompetitive (mixed type) with external K+. 3. When measurements were made in K+-free ghosts and Na+-free solutions, or when Na+,K+-ATPase activity was measured at high ATP concentrations, inhibition by MgPO4 was non-competitive with cell Na+. This observation is not consistent with the Albers-Post reaction mechanism of the Na+ pump, and suggests the presence of an alternative reaction pathway in which ATP combines with the enzyme before phosphate is released. 4. MgPO4 monotonically inhibited the uncoupled Na+ efflux which occurs in solutions free of both Na+ and K+. The uncoupled efflux seemed to be more sensitive to MgPO4 inhibition than the Na+-K+ exchange. 5. Trinitrophenyladenosine-5'-tetraphosphate stimulated the K+-K+ exchange in the presence of MgPO4, and the characteristics of stimulation by TNP adenosine tetraphosphate were little different from the characteristics of stimulation by trinitrophenyladenosine-5'-triphosphate or -5'-diphosphate. The nucleotide binding site at which K+-K+ exchange is stimulated must be able to accommodate a nucleotide with a linear array of four phosphate groups.

Cation activation of the pig kidney sodium pump: transmembrane allosteric effects of sodium

We have studied activation by Na or Rb ions of different transport modes of the Na-K pump, using phospholipid vesicles reconstituted with pig kidney Na-K-ATPase. The shape of the activation curves, sigmoid or quasi-hyperbolic, depends on the nature of the cation at the opposite surface and not on the specific mode of transport. ATP-dependent Na uptake into K-containing vesicles (Na-K exchange) is activated by cytoplasmic Na along a highly sigmoid curve in the absence of extracellular Na (Hill number, nH = 1.9). Activation displays progressively less-sigmoid curves as extracellular Na is raised to 150 mM (nH = 1.2). The maximal rate of the Na-K exchange is not affected. Na is not transported from the extracellular face by the pump in the presence of excess extracellular K, and the transmembrane effects of the extracellular Na are therefore 'allosteric' in nature. ATP-dependent Na-Na exchange (Lee & Blostein, 1980) and classical ATP-plus-ADP-dependent Na-Na exchange are activated by cytoplasmic Na along hyperbolic curves. ATP-dependent Na uptake into Tris-containing vesicles is activated by cytoplasmic Na along a somewhat sigmoidal curve. (ATP + Pi)-dependent Rb-Rb exchange is activated by cytoplasmic and extracellular Rb along strictly hyperbolic curves. The same applies for Rb-Rb exchange in the presence or absence of ATP or Pi alone. The presence of a high concentration of extracellular Na together with extracellular Rb induces a sigmoidal activation by cytoplasmic Rb of (ATP + Pi)-dependent Rb-Rb exchange (nH = 1.45) but does not affect the maximal rate of exchange. Slow passive Rb fluxes through the pump observed in the absence of other pump ligands (see Karlish & Stein, 1982 alpha) are activated by cytoplasmic Rb along a strictly hyperbolic curve with extracellular Rb, nH = 1.0 (Rb-Rb exchange), along a strongly sigmoid curve with extracellular Na, nH = 1.5 (Rb-Na exchange), and along less-sigmoid curves with extracellular Tris, nH = 1.24 (net Rb flux) or extracellular Li, nH = 1.2 (Rb-Li exchange). Activation of the passive Rb fluxes by extracellular Rb is hyperbolic in the presence of cytoplasmic Rb, Li or Tris but is sigmoid in the presence of cytoplasmic Na (nH = 1.36). Inhibition by cytoplasmic Na of passive Rb fluxes from the cytoplasmic to the extracellular face of the pump depends on the nature of the cation at the extracellular surface.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)