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. 1974 Mar;237(3):555–571. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1974.sp010498

The sodium-transporting compartment of the epithelium of frog skin

M Cereijido, C A Rabito, E Rodríguez Boulan, Catalina A Rotunno
PMCID: PMC1350905  PMID: 4825475

Abstract

1. The abdominal frog skin was mounted between two chambers containing Ringer with 1 mM-Na on the outside and 115 mM-Na on the inside. When the Na concentration of the outer solution ([Na]o) is instantaneously raised from 1 to 50 mM, the short circuit current (I) increases to a new value in less than a second, and becomes essentially time-independent. Only in a few experiments was it observed to increase further, although at a much slower rate.

2. At a time t after this increase, the addition of 10-4 M amiloride to the outer solution produces an exponential decrease of I. The area under this exponential curve is generally taken to reflect the existence of a Na- transporting compartment (NaTC).

3. The amount of Na represented by NaTC is a function of t: it increases from 1·7 × 10-9 mole. cm-2, at t = 10 sec, to 22·8 × 10-9 mole. cm-2 at t = 10 min.

4. In view of the fact that (a) I is not a function of the size of the `NaTC' and (b) that whereas I reaches a steady value in a fraction of a second the size of NaTC keeps increasing for minutes, it is proposed that the `NaTC' represents an amount of Na which is not located along the main route of transepithelial transport.

5. On the assumption that the NaTC is located in a cellular compartment and that, in order to accumulate in this compartment Na should be accompanied by a permeable anion, a series of experiments were performed with Ringer in which Cl- was replaced by gluconate. It was observed as expected, that NaTC in gluconate is 164 times smaller than in Cl-, but I only decreases to one half its value in Cl- Ringer.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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