Skeletal muscle protein synthesis and degradation in vitro: effects of temperature

Potential role of passively increased muscle temperature on contractile function

Declines in muscle force, power, and contractile function can be observed in older adults, clinical populations, inactive individuals, and injured athletes. Passive heating exposure (e.g., hot baths, sauna, or heated garments) has been used for health purposes, including skeletal muscle treatment. An acute increase in muscle temperature by passive heating can increase the voluntary rate of force development and electrically evoked contraction properties (i.e., time to peak twitch torque, half-relation time, and electromechanical delay). The improvements in the rate of force development and evoked contraction assessments with increased muscle temperature after passive heating reveal peripheral mechanisms’ potential role in enhancing muscle contraction. This review aimed to summarise, discuss, and highlight the potential role of an acute passive heating stimulus on skeletal muscle cells to improve contractile function. These mechanisms include increased calcium kinetics (release/reuptake), calcium sensitivity, and increased intramuscular fluid.

On a coupled electro-chemomechanical model of gastric smooth muscle contraction

The stomach is a central organ in the gastrointestinal tract that performs a variety of functions, in which the spatio-temporal organisation of active smooth muscle contraction in the stomach wall (SW) is highly regulated. In the present study, a three-dimensional model of the gastric smooth muscle contraction is presented, including the mechanical contribution of the mucosal and muscular layer of the SW. Layer-specific and direction-dependent model parameters for the active and passive stress-stretch characteristics of the SW were determined experimentally using porcine smooth muscle strips. The electrical activation of the smooth muscle cells (SMC) due to the pacemaker activity of the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) is modelled by using FitzHugh-Nagumo-type equations, which simulate the typical ICC and SMC slow wave behaviour. The calcium dynamic in the SMC depends on the SMC membrane potential via a gaussian function, while the chemo-mechanical coupling in the SMC is modelled via an extended Hai-Murphy model. This cascade is coupled with an additional mechano-electrical feedback-mechanism, taking into account the mechanical response of the ICC and SMC due to stretch of the SW. In this way the relaxation responses of the fundus to accommodate incoming food, as well as the typical peristaltic contraction waves in the antrum for mixing and transport of the chyme, have been well replicated in simulations performed at the whole organ level. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: In this article, a novel three-dimensional electro-chemomechanical model of the gastric smooth muscle contraction is presented. The propagating waves of electrical membrane potential in the network ofinterstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) and smooth muscle cells (SMC) lead to a global pattern of change in the calciumdynamics inside the SMC. Taking additionally into account the mechanical response of the ICC and SMC due to stretch of the stomach wall, also referred to as mechanical feedback-mechanism, the result is a complex spatio-temporal regulation of the active contraction and relaxation of the gastric smooth muscle tissue. Being a firstapproach, in future view such a three-dimensional model can give an insight into the complexload transferring system of the stomach wall, as well as into the electro-chemomechanicalcoupling process underlying smooth muscle contraction in health and disease.

Porcine Stomach Smooth Muscle Force Depends on History-Effects

The stomach serves as food reservoir, mixing organ and absorption area for certain substances, while continually varying its position and size. Large dimensional changes during ingestion and gastric emptying of the stomach are associated with large changes in smooth muscle length. These length changes might induce history-effects, namely force depression (FD) following active muscle shortening and force enhancement (FE) following active muscle stretch. Both effects have impact on the force generating capacity of the stomach, and thus functional relevance. However, less is known about history-effects and active smooth muscle properties of stomach smooth muscle. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate biomechanical muscle properties as force-length and force-velocity relations (FVR) of porcine stomach smooth muscle strips, extended by the analysis of history-effects on smooth muscle force. Therefore, in total n = 54 tissue strips were dissected in longitudinal direction from the ventral fundus of porcine stomachs. Different isometric, isotonic, and isokinetic contraction protocols were performed during electrical muscle stimulation. Cross-sectional areas (CSA) of smooth muscles were determined from cryo-histological sections stained with Picrosirius Red. Results revealed that maximum smooth muscle tension was 10.4 ± 2.6 N/cm². Maximum shortening velocity (V_max) and curvature factor (curv) of the FVR were 0.04 ± 0.01 [optimum muscle length/s] and 0.36 ± 0.15, respectively. The findings of the present study demonstrated significant (P < 0.05) FD [up to 32% maximum muscle force (F_im)] and FE (up to 16% F_im) of gastric muscle tissue, respectively. The FE- and FD-values increased with increasing ramp amplitude. This outstanding muscle behavior is not accounted for in existing models so far and strongly supports the idea of a holistic reflection of distinct stomach structure and function. For the first time this study provides a comprehensive set of stomach smooth muscle parameters including classic biomechanical muscle properties and history-dependent effects, offering the possibility for the development and validation of computational stomach models. Furthermore, this data set facilitates novel insights in gastric motility and contraction behavior based on the re-evaluation of existing contractile mechanisms. That will likely help to understand physiological functions or dysfunctions in terms of gastric accommodation and emptying.

Ion Transport and Water Movement

Secretion of water and electrolytes in salivary glands occurs by a dual process involving the formation of a plasma-like, isotonic primary-secretion in salivary acini and its subsequent modification in salivary-ducts by the removal and addition of specific ions. The mechanisms underlying the formation of primary acinar secretion have been investigated with a number of experimental approaches such as electrophysiology, the measurement of ion transport in gland fragments and dispersed acinar cells, and the evaluation of the ionic requirements for secretion in isolated, perfused gland preparations. The accumulated evidence suggests that salivary secretion is formed by a complex interaction between passive and active ion movements across acinar cell membranes, resulting in the trans-acinar movement of CI and Na+ and, by the osmotic gradient which develops, of water. A major consequence of stimulation is the release of K + through Ca++ -and voltage-sensitive channels and its subsequent recycling back into the cells by ouabain- and furosemide-sensitive transport systems. This results in NaCl uptake across the basolateral cell membrane and the subsequent efflux of CI through luminal membrane channels, which also appear to be sensitive to cellular Ca + +. The rates of these various ion movements appear to be, therefore, closely linked and interdependent. Ductal modification of the primary secretion has been studied in microperfused duct preparations. The evidence likewise indicates that it involves interactions between complex conductance pathways in the luminal cell membrane and a Na, K pump present in the basolateral cell membrane and that it is under autonomic and hormonal control. Activation of ductal transport mechanisms results in NaCl reabsorption and KHCO3 secretion. Final saliva thus differs from primary secretion in electrolyte composition and, because water permeability is low in the duct epithelium, becomes hypotonic. Alterations in fluid and electrolyte secretion such as those observed in disease can result, therefore, from disturbances in one or more of these complex transport processes in acinar or duct cells.

Channels and transporters in salivary glands

According to the two-stage hypothesis, primary saliva, a NaCl-rich plasma-like isotonic fluid is secreted by salivary acinar cells and its ionic composition becomes modified in the duct system. The ducts secrete K(+) and HCO (3) (-) and reabsorb Na(+) and Cl(-) without any water movement, thus establishing a hypotonic final saliva. Salivary secretion depends on the coordinated action of several channels and transporters localized in the apical and basolateral membrane of acinar and duct cells. Early functional studies in perfused glands, followed by the molecular cloning of several transport proteins and the subsequent analysis of mutant mice, have greatly contributed to our understanding of salivary fluid and the electrolyte secretion process. With a few exceptions, most of the key channels and transporters involved in salivary secretion have now been identified and characterized. However, the picture that has emerged from all these studies is one of a complex molecular network characterized by redundancy for several transport proteins, compensatory mechanisms, and adaptive changes in health and disease. Current research is directed to the molecular interactions between the determinants and the ways in which they are regulated by extracellular signals and intracellular mediators. This review focuses on the functionally and molecularly best-characterized channels and transporters that are considered to be involved in transepithelial fluid and electrolyte transport in salivary glands.

Gene expression of secretory carbonic anhydrase isozymes in striated ducts of canine salivary glands using laser microdissection system

To clarify whether striated duct cells in canine salivary glands synthesize secretory carbonic anhydrase (CA-VI), as is the case with serous acinar cells, the present study utilized laser microdissection to harvest striated duct cells from canine parotid and submandibular glands, and total RNA extracted from these cells was then amplified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction to assess CA-VI gene expression. The results confirmed the local expression of CA-VI mRNA in striated duct cells. This clarified that, in canine salivary glands, CA-VI is synthesized in not only serous acinar cells, but also striated duct cells.

Gramicidin-perforated patch recording revealed the oscillatory nature of secretory Cl- movements in salivary acinar cells

Elevations of cytoplasmic free calcium concentrations ([Ca²⁺]_i) evoked by cholinergic agonists stimulate isotonic fluid secretion in salivary acinar cells. This process is driven by the apical exit of Cl⁻ through Ca²⁺-activated Cl⁻ channels, while Cl⁻ enters the cytoplasm against its electrochemical gradient via a loop diuretic-sensitive Na⁺-K⁺-2Cl⁻ cotransporter (NKCC) and/or parallel operations of Cl⁻-HCO₃⁻ and Na⁺-H⁺ exchangers, located in the basolateral membrane. To characterize the contributions of those activities to net Cl⁻ secretion, we analyzed carbachol (CCh)-activated Cl⁻ currents in submandibular acinar cells using the “gramicidin-perforated patch recording configuration.” Since the linear polypeptide antibiotic gramicidin creates monovalent cation-selective pores, CCh-activated Cl⁻ currents in the gramicidin-perforated patch recording were carried by Cl⁻ efflux via Cl⁻ channels, dependent upon Cl⁻ entry through Cl⁻ transporters expressed in the acinar cells. CCh-evoked oscillatory Cl⁻ currents were associated with oscillations of membrane potential. Bumetanide, a loop diuretic, decreased the CCh-activated Cl⁻ currents and hyperpolarized the membrane potential. In contrast, neither methazolamide, a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, nor elimination of external HCO₃⁻ had significant effects, suggesting that the cotransporter rather than parallel operations of Cl⁻-HCO₃⁻ and Na⁺-H⁺ exchangers is the primary Cl⁻ uptake pathway. Pharmacological manipulation of the activities of the Ca²⁺-activated Cl⁻ channel and the NKCC revealed that the NKCC plays a substantial role in determining the amplitude of oscillatory Cl⁻ currents, while adjusting to the rate imposed by the Ca²⁺-activated Cl⁻ channel, in the gramicidin-perforated patch configuration. By concerting with and being controlled by the cation steps, the oscillatory form of secretory Cl⁻ movements may effectively provide a driving force for fluid secretion in intact acinar cells.

Mouse extensor digitorum longus muscle preparation as a tool in nutrition research: a quantitative comparison to in vivo and cell culture experiments

Incubated restrained and unrestrained extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles from adult non-growing mice were evaluated as a tool in non-steady state nutrition experiments. Energy state was determined by nucleotide determinations in muscles. Protein synthesis was estimated by the amount of L-[U-14C]phenylalanine incorporated into proteins, and protein balance was measured by tyrosine release from muscle proteins. Confluent cultured L6 rat muscle cells served as a reference system in steady state without hypoxia being sensitive to growth factors and regulatory peptides at physiologic concentrations. Irrespective of medium composition, incubated EDL muscles remained in negative protein balance, being unrelated to the resting tension of the incubated muscles. Energy-rich phosphates were not restored to normal levels during incubation, but protein synthesis was not attenuated by the decline in energy state. Fractional protein synthesis (0.05-0.15%/h) remained constant for up to 6 h of EDL incubation, and was comparable to protein synthesis in cultured confluent non-proliferating myocytes (0.20-0.30%/h) and to mixed leg muscles measured in vivo (0.10-0.20%/h). Protein synthesis in incubated EDL muscles reflected alterations in muscle peptide formation in vivo following either oral provision of food or parenteral injection of insulin. EDL muscles were sensitive to in vitro exposure to both insulin (60-125 microU/mL) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) (1000 ng/mL). The sensitivity to insulin seemed to be modified by the nutritional state (starved/fed) of the animals before sacrifice. Protein synthesis in EDL muscles was less responsive to serum-containing growth factors (IGF-1, epidermal growth factor [EGF], platelet-derived growth factor [PDGF]) compared to confluent L6 muscle cells, which probably reflected different receptor expression. Our results demonstrate that protein metabolism in incubated unrestrained mouse EDL muscles reflects in vivo protein metabolism.

Basolateral K+ efflux is largely independent of maxi-K+ channels in rat submandibular glands during secretion

The involvement of large-conductance, voltage- and Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels (maxi-K+ channels) in basolateral Ca(2+)-dependent K(+)-efflux pathways and fluid secretion by the rat submandibular gland was investigated. Basolateral K+ efflux was monitored by measuring the change in K+ concentration in the perfusate collected from the vein of the isolated, perfused rat submandibular gland every 30 s. Under conditions in which the Na+/K(+)-ATPase and Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl- cotransporter were inhibited by ouabain (1 mmol/l) and bumetanide (50 mumol/l) respectively, continuous stimulation with acetylcholine (ACh) (1 mumol/l) caused a transient large net K+ efflux, followed by a smaller K+ efflux, which gradually returned to the basal level within 10 min. These two components of the K+ efflux appear to be dependent on an increase in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration. The initial transient K+ efflux was not affected by charybdotoxin (100 nmol/l) or tetraethylammonium (TEA) (5 mmol/l) but the smaller second component was strongly and reversibly inhibited by charybdotoxin (100 nmol/l) and TEA (0.1 and 5 mmol/l). The initial K+ efflux transient induced by ACh was inhibited by quinine (0.1-3 mmol/l), quinidine (1-3 mmol/l) and Ba2+ (5 mmol/l), but not by verapamil (0.1 mmol/l), lidocaine (1 mmol/l), 4-aminopyridine (1 mmol/l) or apamin (1 mumol/l). Ca(2+)-dependent transient large K+ effluxes induced by substance P (0.01 mumol/l) and A23187 (3 mumol/l) were not inhibited by TEA (5 mmol/l or 10 mmol/l). A23187 (3 mumol/l) evoked a biphasic fluid-secretory response, which was not inhibited by TEA (5 mmol/l). Patch-clamp studies confirmed that the whole-cell outward K+ current attributable to maxi-K+ channels obtained from rat submandibular endpiece cells was strongly inhibited by the addition of TEA (1-10 mmol/l) to the bath. It is concluded that maxi-K+ channels are not responsible for the major part of the Ca(2+)-dependent basolateral K+ efflux and fluid secretion by the rat submandibular gland.

Use of superfused rat skeletal muscle for metabolic studies: assessment of pH by 31P n.m.r

We developed a muscle superfusion system suitable for metabolic studies of small isolated rat muscle ex vivo in real time and in a non-destructive manner by n.m.r. spectroscopy. In order to determine biochemical stability of superfused extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle (from fasted 45 and 100 g rats), the energy state and the pH of muscle were continuously monitored by 31P n.m.r. spectroscopy. ATP and phosphocreatine remained stable during 2 h whatever the muscle size (20 or 45 mg). Neither metabolite was a sensitive probe of possible metabolic compartmentation within muscle under our experimental conditions. By contrast, the chemical shift of Pi by its sensitivity to pH was a discriminant factor in the assessment of muscle stability. Indeed, heterogeneity of pH was observed only in the 45 mg EDL muscle resulting from a core region with loss of glycogen. Together, these observations suggest deviations of energy metabolism to supply ATP. Consequently, pH may be considered as a new real-time criterion for monitoring a metabolic heterogeneity due to changes in energy metabolism of muscle preparations ex vivo.

Intracellular pH measurement in primary monolayer cultures of rat epididymal cells

Intracellular pH (pHi) of primary monolayer cultures of the rat epididymal cells has been measured using fluorescent dye 2',7'-bis(carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF). When incubated in normal Krebs-Henseleit (K-H) solution containing 25 mM HCO3, cell monolayers exhibited a basal pHi of 7.17 +/- 0.08. Amiloride (0.5 mM) added to the cell monolayers caused an immediate and sustained fall in pHi by 0.43 +/- 0.05 pH unit. Similar effects were produced when extracellular Na ions were substituted by N-methyl-D-glucamine. Addition of SITS (0.5 mM) or DPC (0.6 mM) resulted in a transient intracellular alkalosis. Adrenaline (0.23 microM) caused a fall in pHi by 0.33 +/- 0.05 pH unit. The fall was slow and was achieved after 30 min (half time 9.9 min). The effect of adrenaline was reversible upon washing and was blocked by propranolol (2 microM). The effect of adrenaline was mimicked by forskolin (10 microM) and Br-cAMP (0.5 mM) which caused a fall in pHi by 0.35 +/- 0.03 and 0.35 +/- 0.02 pH unit respectively. Addition of diphenylamine-2-carboxylate (DPC, 0.6 mM) to the cuvette completely blocked the intracellular acidification produced by adrenaline or forskolin. However, addition of SITS (0.5 mM) did not prevent the intracellular acidosis induced by these agonists. If monolayers were first treated with forskolin (10 microM), the intracellular pH fell, when stabilized, subsequent addition of amiloride caused a further fall in pHi. When incubated in a Cl-free solution (Cl substituted by gluconate), cell monolayers exhibited a pHi of 7.23 +/- 0.07 (values not significantly different from monolayers incubated in HCO3 solution).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Methods for studying protein synthesis and degradation in liver and skeletal muscle

Different methods used for measuring protein turnover in liver and skeletal muscle are described, with special emphasis on technical and practical aspects and the advantages and limitations of different techniques. In the first part of the review, the concept of precursor specific radioactivity and its importance for accurate determination of protein synthesis rate is discussed. In the second part, different in vivo techniques for protein turnover measurements are reviewed, including continuous administration of tracer amino acid, flooding dose technique, indirect measurement of protein synthesis, and estimation of protein degradation in vivo. In the third part of the report, in vitro techniques are described, including measurement of protein turnover in incubated liver slices, perfused liver, isolated hepatocytes, incubated isolated muscles or muscle biopsies, and perfused rat hemicorpus. In vivo techniques are preferred when accurate absolute values of protein turnover rates are desired. In vitro techniques offer the advantage of standardized conditions, maintaining strict control of substrate and hormone concentrations, and eliminating complicating interactions with other tissues. For several in vitro techniques, a good correlation has been demonstrated between relative changes in protein turnover in vitro and in vivo in different conditions.

Evidence for two conductance/exchange pathways for chloride in rat parotid secretory granules

Electron probe x-ray microanalysis was used to determine that bromide is localized to rat parotid secretory granules at early stages of an in situ Cl/Br washout experiment. Chloride efflux and bromide influx across the secretory granule membrane occurred with a time order of minutes. Since the Cl washout data indicated minimal Cl binding within the granule, and therefore minimal Br binding, the Br localization results suggest the presence of two or more anion conductance/exchange pathways in the granule membrane for the Cl (Br) ion.

Ion transport and water movement

Secretion of water and electrolytes in salivary glands occurs by a dual process involving the formation of a plasma-like, isotonic primary secretion in salivary acini and its subsequent modification in salivary ducts by the removal and addition of specific ions. The mechanisms underlying the formation of primary acinar secretion have been investigated with a number of experimental approaches such as electrophysiology, the measurement of ion transport in gland fragments and dispersed acinar cells, and the evaluation of the ionic requirements for secretion in isolated, perfused gland preparations. The accumulated evidence suggests that salivary secretion is formed by a complex interaction between passive and active ion movements across acinar cell membranes, resulting in the trans-acinar movement of Cl- and Na+ and, by the osmotic gradient which develops, of water. A major consequence of stimulation is the release of K+ through Ca++- and voltage-sensitive channels and its subsequent recycling back into the cells by ouabain- and furosemide-sensitive transport systems. This results in NaCl uptake across the basolateral cell membrane and the subsequent efflux of Cl through luminal membrane channels, which also appear to be sensitive to cellular Ca++. The rates of these various ion movements appear to be, therefore, closely linked and interdependent. Ductal modification of the primary secretion has been studied in microperfused duct preparations. The evidence likewise indicates that it involves interactions between complex conductance pathways in the luminal cell membrane and a Na, K pump present in the basolateral cell membrane and that it is under autonomic and hormonal control. Activation of ductal transport mechanisms results in NaCl reabsorption and KHCO3 secretion. Final saliva thus differs from primary secretion in electrolyte composition and, because water permeability is low in the duct epithelium, becomes hypotonic. Alterations in fluid and electrolyte secretion such as those observed in disease can result, therefore, from disturbances in one or more of these complex transport processes in acinar or duct cells.

Two independent anion transport systems in rabbit mandibular salivary glands

Cholinergically stimulated Cl and HCO3 transport in perfused rabbit mandibular glands has been studied with extracellular anion substitution and administration of transport inhibitors. In glands perfused with HCO3-free solutions, replacement of Cl with other anions supported secretion in the following sequence: Br = greater than Cl greater than I = greater than NO3 greater than isethionate. Furosemide, 1.0 and 0.1 mmol/l, inhibited Cl-supported secretion by 97-99% and 70-78%, respectively. SITS, 0.1 mmol/l, had no effect and amiloride, 1.0 mmol/l, caused a 55-65% inhibition. Addition of SITS to amiloride-treated glands produced no further effect. In glands perfused with Cl-free solutions, but containing 25 mM HCO3, amiloride, 1.0 mmol/l, inhibited secretion by 95% and methazolamide, 0.1 mmol/l, by 55%. In glands perfused with solutions containing both HCO3 and Cl, furosemide had smaller effects than in glands perfused with solutions containing only Cl - a dose of 1.0 mmol/l inhibited 60% of the initial fast phase of secretion, and 90% of the later plateau phase, while a dose of 0.1 mmol/l inhibited 30% of the initial phase, but had no effect on the plateau. SITS, 0.1 mmol/l, actually stimulated secretion by about 30%, but when infused in addition to furosemide (0.1 mmol/l), it inhibited by about 20%. Amiloride (1.0 mmol/l) caused no inhibition. The results suggest that there are at least three distinct carriers in the rabbit mandibular gland. One is a furosemide-sensitive Na-coupled Cl (probably Na-K-2Cl) symport, responsible for the bulk of normal secretion. The others are an amiloride-sensitive Na-H antiport and a SITS-sensitive Cl-HCO3 antiport.

36Cl fluxes in dispersed rat submandibular acini: effects of Ca2+ omission and of the ionophore A23187

Transmembrane fluxes of 36Cl were investigated in dispersed acini of the rat submandibular gland in Ca2+-containing and Ca2+-free media and also in the presence of the divalent cation ionophore A23187. In Ca2+-replete medium, a time-dependent uptake of tracer resulted in a steady state 36Cl content of 8.5 +/- 0.3 nmol/mg protein in 3-5 min. This uptake was reduced 32% by 1 mM furosemide and 27% by 1 microM acetylcholine. In the presence of Ca2+, the ionophore (10(-5) M) reduced tracer uptake 36% and prevented further effects of either acetylcholine or furosemide. Both acetylcholine and A23187 caused a rapid net efflux of 36Cl from tracer-preloaded acini in Ca2+-containing medium (37% and 20%, respectively). When Ca2+ was omitted from the incubation medium, basal 36Cl uptake in the absence of added test substance was the same as in Ca2+-containing medium but was not affected by acetylcholine, while it was still reduced 29% by furosemide. Addition of acetylcholine to preloaded acini in Ca2+-free medium caused only a transient and unsustained 36Cl efflux but subsequent addition of Ca2+ produced a 36% reduction in tracer content. The ionophore caused a net 36Cl efflux in Ca2+-containing medium (24% decrease in 36Cl content) but had no effect in Ca2+-free medium. Subsequent addition of Ca2+ resulted in a 27% net efflux of tracer. The calmodulin inhibitor trifluoperazine caused a 14% increase in 36Cl uptake but did not cause 36Cl efflux from preloaded cells or modify acetylcholine-induced efflux of tracer from these cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Evidence for a Na+/K+/Cl- cotransport system in basolateral membrane vesicles from the rabbit parotid

Sodium (22Na) transport was studied in a basolateral membrane vesicle preparation from rabbit parotid. Sodium uptake was markedly dependent on the presence of both K+ and Cl- in the extravesicular medium, being reduced 5 times when K+ was replaced by a nonphysiologic cation and 10 times when Cl was replaced by a nonphysiologic anion. Sodium uptake was stimulated by gradients of either K+ or Cl (relative to nongradient conditions) and could be driven against a sodium concentration gradient by a KCl gradient. No effect of membrane potentials on KCl-dependent sodium flux could be detected, indicating that this is an electroneutral process. A KCl-dependent component of sodium flux could also be demonstrated under equilibrium exchange conditions, indicating a direct effect of K+ and Cl on the sodium transport pathway. KCl-dependent sodium uptake exhibited a hyperbolic dependence on sodium concentration consistent with the existence of a single-transport system with Km = 3.2 mM at 80 mM KCl and 23 degrees C. Furosemide inhibited this transporter with K0.5 = 2 X 10(4) M (23 degrees C). When sodium uptake was measured as a function of potassium and chloride concentrations a hyperbolic dependence on [K] (Hill coefficient = 0.87 +/- 0.09) and a sigmoidal dependence on [Cl] (Hill coefficient = 1.31 +/- 0.07) were observed, consistent with a Na/K/Cl stoichiometry of 1:1:2. Taken together these data provide strong evidence for the electroneutral coupling of sodium and KCl movements in this preparation and strongly support the hypothesis that a Na+/K+/Cl cotransport system thought to be associated with transepithelial chloride and water movements in many exocrine glands is present in the parotid acinar basolateral membrane.