The pattern of chicken intestine amiloride-binding proteins was determined using the photoreactive amiloride analogue 2′-methoxy-5′-nitrobenzamil (NMBA) and a polyclonal anti-amiloride antibody. At 10−7M, NMBA inhibits ∼62% of the Na+ channel activity. At this concentration the amiloride analogue labels a number of membrane proteins, and in particular a 40–45 kDa polypeptide denoted ABP40. Incorporation of NMBA into ABP40 could be prevented by a 100-fold excess of benzamil, but not by a 1000-fold excess of 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl)-amiloride. Labeling of ABP40 was intense in membranes derived from salt-deprived chickens and ∼5-fold weaker in membranes from salt-repleted animals. Because of its small size, ABP40 is not likely to be an avian Na+ channel subunit, yet this amiloride-binding protein could be involved in the response to aldosterone.

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) is vasodilatory and mitogenic for vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). Alteration in VSMC Na(+)-K(+)-adenosinetriphosphatase (Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase) activity is hypothesized to underlie abnormal vascular tone and growth in hypertension and diabetes. Therefore, we investigated effects of IGF-I on Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity in rat aortic VSMC. IGF-I increases pump activity in a dose- and time-dependent manner: the minimal dose required was 10(-10) M, and the minimal time required was 20 min (at 10(-8) M) to increase activity. Similar effects persisted through 12 h. In Na(+)-loaded cells, IGF-I does not further stimulate activity. Blockade of Na+/H+ exchange attenuates IGF-I-induced increases in activity after 30 min but has no effect after 12 h. Northern blot analyses reveal that expression of the alpha 1- and the alpha 2-subunits of the pump were unaffected by IGF-I. Plasma membrane alpha 1- and alpha 2-protein were also unaffected, suggesting translocation of preformed pools was not responsible for the increases. Inhibitors revealed that neither tyrosine kinase activity, RNA transcription, protein synthesis, nitric oxide synthase activity, or protein kinase C activity mediated this IGF-I effect. Therefore, IGF-I regulates Na pump activity in the short term by an Na+/H+ exchange-dependent but transcription/translocation-independent mechanism. These data suggest that IGF-I, known to be produced by VSMC, may regulate tone and growth responses abnormal in disease states such as hypertension and diabetes.

Stimulation of flounder erythrocytes by noradrenaline under isosmotic conditions (330 mosmol kg-l) and physiological Nat concentration (113 mmol l(-1)) caused swelling of the cells. The EC(50) of this cell swelling was 0.65 mu mol l(-1) noradrenaline, The effect of the noradrenaline-induced cell swelling on the taurine channel under isosmotic conditions was negligible. However, when the cells were stimulated by noradrenaline (1.0 mu mol l(-1)) before, simultaneously with or after reduction of osmolality (255 mosmol kg(-1)), the volume regulatory efflux of taurine mediated by the taurine channel was transiently accelerated, The rate coefficient for taurine efflux was more than four times higher than in osmolality-stimulated cells not exposed to noradrenaline, The present paper deals with the accelerating effect of noradrenaline on the taurine channel under hypo-osmotic conditions and the lack of effect of noradrenaline-induced cell swelling on the channel under iso-osmotic conditions.Noradrenaline initiated the cell swelling by interacting with beta-receptors which appeared to be more related to the mammalian beta(1)-receptors than to the beta(2)-receptors, The receptor interaction activated the adenylate cyclase system and, in the presence of 1.0 mu mol l(-1) noradrenaline, the cellular cyclic AMP concentration increased about 23 times, Noradrenaline also stimulated the Na+/H+ and Cl-/HCO3- antiporters and this affected the extracellular pH as well as the cell volume, Depending on the extracellular Na+ concentration, the incubation medium was acidified (113 mmol l(-1) Na+) or alkalized (2.7 mmol l(-1) Na+), Under these two conditions, the accelerating effects of noradrenaline on the taurine efflux were of similar magnitude, Similar effects on the cell volume, the extracellular pH and the volume regulatory taurine efflux were obtained in the presence of the cyclic AMP analogue 8-bromo-cyclic AMP, Under hypo-osmotic conditions in the absence of noradrenaline, the cellular level of cyclic AMP was not elevated, There was no significant positive correlation between the water content of the cells (cell volume) under different conditions in the presence or absence of noradrenaline and the state of activation of the osmolality-sensitive taurine channel.We conclude that the mechanism(s) which activate(s) the osmolality-sensitive taurine channel in flounder erythrocytes is transiently and strongly accelerated by noradrenaline, but not triggered by the noradrenaline-induced events, The acceleration does not appear to be due to increased activity of the antiporters, but to increased cellular levels of cyclic AMP.

Transition from low salt water to sea water of the euryhaline fish, Fundulus heteroclitus, involves a rapid signal that induces salt secretion by the gill chloride cells. An increase of 65 mOsm in plasma osmolarity was found during the transition. The isolated, chloridecell-rich opercular epithelium of sea-water-adapted Fundulus exposed to 50 mOsm mannitol on the basolateral side showed a 100% increase in chloride secretion, which was inhibited by bumetanide 10−4m and 10−4m DPC (N-Phenylanthranilic acid). No effect of these drugs was found on apical side exposure. A Na+/H+ exchanger, demonstrated by NH4Cl exposure, was inhibited by amiloride and its analogues and stimulated by IBMX, phorbol esters, and epithelial growth factor (EGF). Inhibition of the Na+/H+ exchanger blocks the chloride secretion increase due to basolateral hypertonicity. A Cl−/HCO 3 − exchanger was also found in the chloride cells, inhibited by 10−4m DIDS but not involved in the hyperosmotic response. Ca2+ concentration in the medium was critical for the stimulation of Cl− secretion to occur. Chloride cell volume shrinks in response to hypertonicity of the basolateral side in sea-water-adapted operculi; no effect was found on the apical side. Freshwater-adapted fish chloride cells show increased water permeability of the apical side. It is concluded that the rapid signal for adaptation to higher salinities is an increased tonicity of the plasma that induces chloride cell shrinkage, increased chloride secretion with activation of the Na+K+2Cl− cotransporter, the Na+/H+ exchanger and opening of Cl− channels.

The cellular mechanism of luminal acidification (bicarbonate reabsorption) was studied in cortical distal tubules of rat kidney. The stopped-flow microperfusion technique was applied to early distal (ED) and late distal (LD) segments, perfused with bicarbonate Ringer solution to which specific inhibitors were added, to measure bicarbonate reabsorption [HCO3 flux (JHCO3)]. pH and transepithelial potential difference (Vt) were recorded by double-barreled H+ exchange resin/reference (1 M KCl) electrodes. Amiloride increased stationary pH and reduced Vt in both early and late segments. Hexamethylene-amiloride (HMA), a specific Na(+)-H+ exchange blocker, reduced JHCO3 in both segments (ED by 43.6 and LD by 40.3%) without affecting Vt. Benzamil, an Na(+)-channel blocker, reduced Vt by 75.9 in ED and 74.9% in LD but had no significant effect on acidification in both segments. The specific inhibitor of H(+)-ATPase, bafilomycin A1, inhibited LD JHCO3 at a concentration of 2 x 10(-7) M by 49%, but ED was inhibited by 24% only at 2 x 10(-6) M. Sch-28080, an inhibitor of gastric H(+)-K(+)-ATPase, reduced JHCO3 by 35% in LD of K(+)-depleted rats but not in control rats and had no effect on ED. These data indicate that, in ED, bicarbonate reabsorption is mediated mostly by Na(+)-H+ exchange. In LD, there is evidence for contribution of Na(+)-H+ exchange, vacuolar H(+)-ATPase, and H(+)-K(+)-ATPase (in K(+)-depleted rats) to bicarbonate reabsorption.

Specific binding of the radioactive amiloride analogues [3H]phenamil and [3H]benzamil was studied in plasma membrane from chicken lower intestine. A single population of sites whose affinities and specificities towards pyrazinecarboxamides roughly resemble those of the epithelial Na+ channel, was identified. However, a matched comparison of pyrazinecarboxamide binding and Na+ transport inhibition revealed substantial differences between the high-affinity [3H]phenamil-binding site detected, and the site whose occupancy by phenamil blocks Na+ transport. First, 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl)-amiloride was found to displace bound [3H]phenamil at concentrations that are at least 10-fold lower than those needed to block the channel. Second, the rates at which [3H]phenamil associates and dissociates from this site are lower than the rates at which Na+ channels are inhibited and reactivated, under similar conditions. A site with high affinity to both amiloride and 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl)-amiloride was detected also in membranes from other epithelia. We conclude that tight epithelia contain a major high-affinity amiloride receptor other than the Na(+)-conducting channel, the Na+/H+ antiport or the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger. This site could be associated with a pool of nonconducting channels, another (but structurally related) channel, or a totally unrelated protein.

In the experiments on the primary cerebellar granule cell cultures, delayed neuronal death was induced by 15 min treatment of the cells with 50-mu-M glutamate. 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl)amiloride (10-mu-M) known as a potent inhibitor of the Na+/H+ exchanger, when added to the glutamate-containing Mg2+-free solution caused a considerable (approximately by 40%) decrease in the number of dead cells counted 4 h after the termination of glutamate treatment. Patch-clamp experiments with freshly isolated rat hippocampal neurons have shown that the neuroprotective effect of 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl)amiloride can be explained by its ability to block N-methyl-D-asparate channels (receptors) at micromolar concentrations. A similar mechanism apparently underlies neuroprotective effect of external acidosis (reduction of pH from 7.6-7.8 to 6.7-6.8) during glutamate application.5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl)amiloride (10-mu-M) and low pH (6.7) also proved capable of exhibiting neuroprotective effects upon application during the post-glutamate period. In this instance, however, the number of dead cells was decreased by no more than 20%. This neuroprotective effect of 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl) amiloride and low pH is interpreted as resulting from inhibition of Na+/H+ exchange, since a direct blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors by 1 MM DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate after termination of glutamate treatment did not attenuate the delayed neuronal death.Finally, we have established that the addition of 10-mu-M 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl)amiloride to the cultures both during glutamate treatment and after its termination results in a complete protection of cultured cerebellar granule cells.

GnRH stimulates LH release from gonadotropes in a Ca2(+)-dependent manner. Because of the apparent relationship between cellular Ca2+ metabolism and Na(+)-driven antiports, we investigated their influence on GnRH action. We also assessed the influence of bicarbonate, because its transport may alter effects of Na+/H+ exchange on intracellular pH. In pituitary cell cultures without bicarbonate, GnRH-stimulated LH release was reduced by Na+ omission, by amiloride, and by amiloride analogs that selectively block Na+/H+ exchange. The Na+ dependence of amiloride action (EC50, 14 and 100 microM in medium with 20 and 135 mM NaCl, respectively, and no effect in Na(+)-free medium) and the order of potency of these analogs, indicated specific inhibition of Na+/H+ exchange. 5-(N,N-Di-methyl)amiloride (DMA; a potent Na+/H+ exchange inhibitor) reduced GnRH-stimulated LH release but not GnRH receptor binding or Ca2+ ionophore (A23187)-stimulated LH release, suggesting inhibition at a locus beyond receptor occupancy but before exocytosis. Amiloride analogs that selectively inhibit Na+/Ca2+ exchange also modestly reduced GnRH-stimulated LH release. Bicarbonate (10 mM) reduced the inhibitory effects of DMA and Na+ omission (but not the effects of the Na+/Ca2+ exchange inhibitors or of a Ca2+ channel antagonist), and the effect of bicarbonate was inhibited by a blocker of bicarbonate-dependent antiports. These observations reveal the Na+ dependence of GnRH action and that gonadotropes possess a Na+/H+ exchanger. The Na+ dependence of GnRH-stimulated LH release appears to reflect at least in part dependence upon this antiport. Prevention of the Na+/H+ exchange inhibitor effects by bicarbonate supports the specificity of their action, but suggests regulation of this antiport as an unlikely means of controlling LH release in vivo.

Experiments have been carried out on the primary cerebellar granule cell cultures from 7- to 8-day-old Wistar rats. To study a possible contribution of Na+/Ca2+ exchange to the toxic effect of glutamate, two amiloride derivatives, 3',4'-dichlorobenzamil (DCB) and 5-(N-4-chlorobenzyl)-2',4'-dimethylbenzamil (CBDMB), known to be the potent inhibitors of this exchange system, were used. Addition of DCB or CBDMB (at 30 and 10 microM, respectively) to a 25 microM glutamate solution dramatically enhanced the delayed neuronal death observed during the 4 h after termination of glutamate treatment. Similar but insignificantly smaller effects were obtained when these agents were added to the cultures in the post-glutamate period. Removal of Na+ (by substituting for choline chloride) from the external Mg2+-free solution in the post-glutamate period also enhanced a delayed neuronal damage. The data obtained suggest that Na+/Ca2+ exchanger does not constitute the route for Ca2+ entry during the post-glutamate period but, on the contrary, attenuates glutamate neurotoxicity providing Ca2+ extrusion from the cells under the conditions of a sustained Ca2+ influx.

During the early period after poliovirus infection of HeLa cells, cellular Na+/K+ ATPase activity is transiently activated. We investigated the possibility that Na+/K+ ATPase activation is a consequence of Na+/H+ antiporter activation. Increased uptake of the weak organic acid 5,5-dimethyloxazolidine-2,4-dione by infected cells around 2 h after infection suggested cytoplasmic alkalinization equivalent to pH 7.7 during the biosynthetic phase of viral replication. Consistent with the involvement of Na+/H+ antiporter activation in this phenomenon, it was found to be [Na+]-dependent and inhibited by 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl)amiloride (EIPA). However, the pH increase was not associated with an increase in amiloride-sensitive Na+ uptake by infected cells predicted by this mechanism. By contrast, the alkalinization could be abolished with the anion-exchange inhibitor 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS), implicating an anion-exchange mechanism, such as Cl-/HCO3- exchange, in this process. In addition to abolishing virus-induced intracellular alkalinization, both EIPA and DIDS moderately inhibited viral replication. Manipulation of intracellular pH with nigericin in the incubation medium revealed that maximum viral replication required a pH of about 7.7 and that replication was significantly inhibited even at pH 7.3. Thus, the pH increase in infected cells appeared to be physiologically relevant. These findings represent the first demonstration of a biologically meaningful pH increase in cells infected with a lytic virus.

Preparations of synaptosomes isolated in sucrose or in Na+-rich media were compared with respect to internal pH (pH1), internal Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), membrane potential and45Ca2+ uptake due to K+ depolarization and Na+/Ca2+ exchange. We found that synaptosomes isolated in sucrose media have a pHi of 6.77±0.04 and a [Ca2+]i of about 260 nM, whereas synaptosomes isolated in Na+-rich ionic media have a pHi of 6.96±0.07 and a [Ca2+]i of 463 nM, but both types of preparations have similar membrane potentials of about −50 mV when placed in choline media. The sucrose preparation takes up Ca2+ only by voltage sensitive calcium channels (VSCC'S) when K+-depolarized, while the Na+-rich synaptosomes take up45Ca2+ both by VSCC'S and by Na+/Ca2+ exchange. The amiloride derivative 2′, 4′ dimethylbenzamil (DMB), at 30 μM, inhibits both mechanisms of Ca2+ influx, but 5-(N-4-chlorobenzyl)-2′, 4′ dimethylbenzamil (CBZ-DMB), at 30 μM, inhibits the Ca2+ uptake by VSCC'S, but not by Na+/Ca2+ exchange. Thus, DMB and CBZ-DMB permit distinguishing between Ca2+ flux through channels and through Na+/Ca2+ exchange. We point out that the different properties of the two types of synaptosomes studied account for some of the discrepancies in results reported in the literature for studies of Ca2+ fluxes and neurotransmitter release by different types of preparations of synaptosomes.

A technique is presented to estimate the initial rates of Na(+)-dependent alkalinization of acidified human fibroblasts and platelets and assess the kinetics of the Na+/H+ antiport in these cells. Cytosolic pH (pHi) exhibits an exponential recovery following cellular acidification. Thus, the length of the time interval selected to monitor changes in pHi (delta pHi) is critical to estimating the kinetics of the Na+/H+ antiport. We compared kinetic parameters of the Na+/H+ antiport, using computed and observed changes in delta pHi, for arbitrarily selected time intervals following Na(+)-dependent activation. In both cells, significant increases in both the [Na+] for half-maximal activation (K0.5) and maximal velocities (Vmax) were observed as delta pHi was decreased. We conclude that kinetic parameters derived from initial rate determinations enable a more accurate characterization of the Na+/H+ antiport.

In cardiac cells of some species, an intracellular Na+ load and enhanced electrogenic Na+ pumping can develop during recovery from acidosis. We examined whether this can also occur in human heart. Specimens of human right atrial appendage were incubated in cold (2 degrees C) NH4Cl-substituted (for NaCl) Tyrode solution and then transferred to warm (30 degrees C) Na+-Tyrode solution containing 20 mM K+ to induce an intracellular acid load. After transfer, resting membrane potential (Em) transiently hyperpolarized to a maximal level (Emax) of -58.6 +/- 1.3 mV (n = 8), a level significantly (P less than 0.001) more negative than the equilibrium potential for K+. Decreasing K+ conductance with 0.5 mM Ba2+ increased Emax to -74.0 +/- 2.7 mV (n = 6, P less than 0.001), indicating that the hyperpolarization was not due to efflux of NH+4 through K channels. Acetylstrophanthidin (0.5 microM) reduced Emax to -37.5 +/- 3.1 mV (n = 5, P less than 0.001), indicating that an increased level of Na+-K+ pump activity was involved in the hyperpolarization. The Na+-K+ pump-induced hyperpolarization was abolished (Emax = -22.6 +/- 1.6 mV, n = 8, P less than 0.001) by 10 microM 5-(N,N-dimethyl)amiloride and, when the extracellular Na+ concentration was reduced to 50 mM, by 50 mM Li+. These findings suggest that Na+-H+ exchange can produce a Na+ load which then can stimulate electrogenic Na+ pumping in human cardiac cells during recovery from acidosis.

Recent studies on the regulation of aldosterone biosynthesis have revealed that inhibitors of sodium influx, e.g. amiloride, can inhibit adrenal steroidogenesis with a pharmacological profile suggestive of a Na+/H+ antiport system. We have examined the existence of a Na+/H+ antiport system and its regulation of Na influx and intracellular pH (pHi) in bovine adrenal zona glomerulosa cells. NH4Cl-induced 22Na uptake by zona glomerulosa cells was dose dependently inhibited by ethylisopropylamiloride (EIPA), amiloride, and benzamil with ED50 values of 0.02, 4.30, and 199 microM, respectively. Angiotensin II (AII; 100 nM) caused an initial transient acidification, followed by prolonged alkalinization. The hormone equipotently increased pHi and stimulated aldosterone secretion, with ED50 values of 1.2 and 1.4 nM, respectively. AII-induced alkalinization was suppressed by EIPA, amiloride, and benzamil, with ED50 values of 0.6, 79, and 440 microM, respectively. This increase in pHi induced by AII was dependent upon the extracellular sodium concentration (ED50 values = 2.8 mM) and was blunted in sodium-free medium. AII-stimulated aldosterone synthesis was also inhibited by EIPA, amiloride, and benzamil, with ED50 values of 0.07, 34, and 330 microM, respectively. The time course of activation by angiotensin II on aldosterone secretion was also dependent upon extracellular sodium concentration during a 2-h period. These results document that intracellular pH is regulated through the Na+/H+ exchange system and suggest that the pH change induced by AII might be associated with its regulation of steroidogenesis in bovine adrenal zona glomerulosa cells.