Esophageal function testing using multichannel intraluminal impedance

Multichannel intraluminal impedance (MII) is a new technique for evaluation of bolus transport. We evaluated esophageal function using bolus transport time (BTT) and contraction wave velocity (CWV) of liquid, semisolid, and solid boluses. Ten healthy subjects underwent MII swallow evaluation with various boluses of sterile water (pH 5), applesauce, three different sized marshmallows, and iced and 130 degrees F water. The effect of bethanechol was also studied. There was no difference in BTT or CWV for all water volumes from 1 to 20 ml. There was significant linear increase of BTT with progressively larger volumes of applesauce, and BTT of applesauce was longer than for water. BTT was significantly longer with large marshmallows vs. small and medium and was longer than for water. BTT for iced water was similar to 130 degrees F water. Applesauce showed a significant linear decrease of CWV with progressively larger volumes and was slower than water. Marshmallow showed significantly slower CWV with the large vs. small, and CWV for ice water was significantly slower than 130 degrees F water. Therefore, BTT of liquid is constant, whereas BTT of semisolid and solid are volume dependent and longer than liquids. CWV of semisolids and solids are slower than liquids. CWV of cold liquids is slower than warm liquids. MII can be used as a discriminating test of esophageal function.     

Cell volume measured by total internal reflection microfluorimetry: application to water and solute transport in cells transfected with water channel homologs.

Total internal reflection (TIR) microfluorimetry was established as a method to measure continuously the volume of adherent cells and applied to measure membrane permeabilities in cells transfected with water channel homologs. Cytosol was labeled with the membrane-impermeant fluorophore calcein. Fluorescence was excited by the TIR evanescent field in a thin section of cytosol (approximately 150 nm) adjacent to the cell-substrate interface. Because cytosolic fluorophore number per cell remains constant, the TIR fluorescence signal should be inversely related to cell volume. For small volume changes in Sf-9 and LLC-PK1 cells, relative TIR fluorescence was nearly equal to inverse relative cell volume; deviations from the ideal were modeled theoretically. To measure plasma membrane osmotic water permeability, Pf, the time course of osmotically induced cell volume change was inferred from the TIR fluorescence signal. LLC-PK1 cells expressing the CHIP28 water channel had an HgCl2-sensitive, threefold increase in Pf compared to nontransfected cells (Pf = 0.0043 cm/s at 10 degrees C). Solute permeability was measured from the TIR fluorescence time course in response to solute gradients. Glycerol permeability in Sf-9 cells expressing the water channel homolog GLIP was (1.3 +/- 0.2) x 10(-5) cm/s (22 degrees C), greater than that of (0.36 +/- 0.04) x 10(-5) cm/s (n = 4, p < 0.05) for control cells, indicating functional expression of GLIP. Water and urea permeabilities were similar in GLIP-expressing and control cells. The TIR method should be applicable to the study of water and solute permeabilities and cell volume regulation in cells of arbitrary shape and size.     

Cell volume and plasma membrane osmotic water permeability in epithelial cell layers measured by interferometry.

The development of strategies to measure plasma membrane osmotic water permeability (Pf) in epithelial cells has been motivated by the identification of a family of molecular water channels. A general approach utilizing interferometry to measure cell shape and volume was developed and applied to measure Pf in cell layers. The method is based on the cell volume dependence of optical path length (OPL) for a light beam passing through the cell. The small changes in OPL were measured by interferometry. A mathematical model was developed to relate the interference signal to cell volume changes for cells of arbitrary shape and size. To validate the model, a Mach-Zehnder interference microscope was used to image OPL in an Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cell layer and to reconstruct the three-dimensional cell shape (OPL resolution < lambda/25). As predicted by the model, a doubling of cell volume resulted in a change in OPL that was proportional to the difference in refractive indices between water and the extracellular medium. The time course of relative cell volume in response to an osmotic gradient was computed from serial interference images. To measure cell volume without microscopy and image analysis, a Mach-Zehnder interferometer was constructed in which one of two interfering laser beams passed through a flow chamber containing the cell layer. The interference signal in response to an osmotic gradient was analyzed to quantify the time course of relative cell volume. The calculated MDCK cell plasma membrane Pf of 6.1 x 10(-4) cm/s at 24 degrees C agreed with that obtained by interference microscopy and by a total internal reflection fluorescence method. Interferometry was also applied to measure the apical plasma membrane water permeability of intact toad urinary bladder; Pf increased fivefold after forskolin stimulation to 0.04 cm/s at 23 degrees C. These results establish and validate the application of interferometry to quantify cell volume and osmotic water permeability in cell layers.     

Flow cytometric kinetic assay of the activity of Na+/H+ antiporter in mammalian cells.

BACKGROUND: The Na(+)/H(+) exchanger (NHE) of mammalian cells is an integral membrane protein that extrudes H(+) ion in exchange for extracellular Na(+) and plays a crucial role in the regulation of intracellular pH (pHi). Thus, when pHi is lowered, NHE extrudes protons at a rate depending of pHi that can be expressed as pH units/s. METHODS: To abolish the activity of other cellular pH-restoring systems, cells were incubated in bicarbonate-free Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium buffered with HEPES. Flow cytometry was used to determine pHi with 2',7'-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5-(and-6)-carboxyfluorescein acetoxymethyl ester or 5-(and-6)-carboxy SNARF-1 acetoxymethyl ester acetate, and the appropriate fluorescence ratios were measured. The calibration of fluorescence ratios versus pHi was established by using ionophore nigericin. The activity of NHE was calculated by a kinetic flow cytometric assay as the slope at time 0 of the best-fit curve of pHi recovery versus time after intracellular acidification with a pulse of exogenous sodium propionate. RESULTS: The kinetic method allowed determination of the pHi-dependent activity of NHE in cell lines and primary cell cultures. NHE activity values were demonstrated to be up to 0.016 pH units/s within the pHi range of 7.3 to 6.3. The inhibition of NHE activity by the specific inhibitor ethyl isopropyl amiloride was easily detected by this method. CONCLUSIONS: The assay conditions can be used to relate variations in pHi with the activity of NHE and provide a standardized method to compare between different cells, inhibitors, models of ischemia by acidification, and other relevant experimental or clinical situations.     

Ratiometric measurement of intracellular pH of cultured cells with BCECF in a fluorescence multi-well plate reader

Summary A number of methods have been developed to measure intracellular pH (pHi) because of its importance in intracellular events. A major advance in accurate pHi measurement was the development of the ratiometric fluorescent indicator dye, 2′,7′-bis(carboxyethyl)-5,6-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF). We have used a fluorescence multi-well plate reader and a ratiometric method for determining pHi in primary cultures of rabbit corneal epithelial (CE) cells with BCECF. Fluorescence was measured at excitation wavelengths of 485±11 nm and 395±12.5 nm, with emission detected at 530±15 nm. Cells grown in multi-well plates were loaded with 4 μM BCECF for 30 min at 37° C. Resting pHi was 7.34±0.03 (2 cultures, N=5 wells). Changes in pHi determined with the fluorescence multi-well plate reader after the addition and removal of NH₄Cl or sodium lactate were comparable to changes in cells analyzed with a digitized fluorescence imaging system. A concentration-response relationship involving changes in pHi was easily demonstrated in CE cells after treatment with ionomycin, a calcium ionophore. Low doses of ionomycin (2.5–5 μM), produced a prolonged acidification; 7.5 μM ionomycin produced a transient acidification; and 10 μM ionomycin resulted in a slight alkalinization. We conclude that accurate pHi measurements can be obtained with a ratiometric method with BCECF in a multi-well plate reader. This technology may simplify screening studies evaluating effects of hormones, growth factors, or toxicants on pHi homeostasis.     

Regulatory volume decrease in the presence of HCO3- by single osteosarcoma cells UMR-106-01.

The technique for the simultaneous recording of cell volume changes and pHi in single cells was used to study the role of HCO3- in regulatory volume decrease (RVD) by the osteosarcoma cells UMR-106-01. In the presence of HCO3-, steady state pHi is regulated by Na+/H+ exchange, Na+ (HCO3-)3 cotransport and Na(+)-independent Cl-/HCO3- exchange. Following swelling in hypotonic medium, pHi was reduced from 7.16 +/- 0.02 to 6.48 +/- 0.02 within 3.4 +/- 0.28 min. During this period of time, the cells performed RVD until cell volume was decreased by 31 +/- 5% beyond that of control cells (RVD overshoot). Subsequently, while the cells were still in hypotonic medium, pHi slowly increased from 6.48 +/- 0.02 to 6.75 +/- 0.02. This increase in pHi coincided with an increase in cell volume back to normal (recovery from RVD overshoot or hypotonic regulatory volume increase (RVI)). The same profound changes in cell volume and pHi after cell swelling were observed in the complete absence of Cl- or Na+, providing HCO3- was present. On the other hand, depolarizing the cells by increasing external K+ or by inhibition of K+ channels with quinidine, Ba2+ or tetraethylammonium prevented the changes in pHi and RVD. These findings suggest that in the presence of HCO3-, RVD in UMR-106-01 cells is largely mediated by the conductive efflux of K+ and HCO3-. Removal of external Na+ but not Cl- prevented the hypotonic RVI that occurred after the overshoot in RVD. Amiloride had no effect, whereas pretreatment with 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS) strongly inhibited hypotonic RVI. Thus, hypotonic RVI is mediated by a Na+(out)-dependent, Cl(-)-independent and DIDS-inhibitable mechanism, which is indicative of a Na+(HCO3-)3 cotransporter. This is the first evidence for the involvement of this transporter in cell volume regulation. The present results also stress the power of the new technique used in delineating complicated cell volume regulatory mechanisms in attached single cells.     

Intracellular pH in individual pituitary cells: measurement with a dual emission pH indicator

Intracellular pH (pHi) can now be measured at the single cell level using dual emission wavelength microspectrofluorimetry with the fluorescent pH indicator SNARF 1 and its membrane permeant acetoxymethyl ester (SNARF 1/AM). We measured pHi of individual pituitary cells under both basal and stimulated conditions. The emitted fluorescence of SNARF 1 probe was calibrated following experimental manipulations of pHi in two types of rat pituitary cells. The calibration curves obtained in the two cell types were identical. We observed a Gaussian distribution of individual pHi with a wide dispersion (6.95 to 8) in the two cell populations. TRH (10(-7) M) and ionomycin (5 microM) induced a transient acidification followed by a sustained alkalinization, whereas K+ (50 mM) depolarization only exerted a transient acidification. These results show that the dual emission pH indicator SNARF 1 can be used to reliably investigate changes in pHi in individual endocrine cells.     

Membrane water and solute permeability determined quantitatively by self-quenching of an entrapped fluorophore

Quantitative determination of rapid water and solute transport and solute reflection coefficients by light-scattering methods is complicated by dependence of vesicle or cell light scattering on nonvolume factors including solution refractive index, cell motion, and membrane aggregation. To overcome these difficulties, a fluorescence technique has been developed to measure accurately (1) osmotic water permeability (Pf), (2) solute permeability (Ps), and (3) solute reflection coefficient (sigma). The time course of vesicle volume is determined by the self-quenching of entrapped fluorescein sulfonate (FS), the best of a series of dyes screened for self-quenching, brightness, and vesicle loading/trapping. To validate the method, rabbit renal brush border vesicles (BBV) were loaded with 1-10 mM FS for 12 h at 4 degrees C and washed to remove extravesicular FS. FS leakage occurred over greater than 6 h at 4 degrees C and greater than 30 min at 23 degrees C. FS fluorescence vs vesicle volume was calibrated from the time course of fluorescence decrease (excitation 470 nm, emission greater than 515 nm) in response to a series of inward osmotic gradients in a stopped-flow apparatus. At 23 degrees C Pf was 0.005 +/- 0.001 cm/s, independent of osmotic gradient size, and inhibited 67% by 0.5 mM HgCl2. Urea Ps was 2 x 10(-6) cm/s with sigma 0.95-1.00 on the basis of the fluorescence time course analysis and the extravesicular [urea] required to obtain zero initial volume flow (null method) when vesicles were loaded with sucrose.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Direct measurement of intracellular pH changes in Xenopus eggs at fertilization and cleavage

We have used Thomas-type recessed-tip pH-sensitive microelectrodes to measure the intracellular pH (pHi) in Xenopus eggs during both fertilization and ionophore activation. The average pHi in unfertilized eggs is 7.33 +/- 0.11 (SD; n = 21) with a resting membrane potential of -10.1 +/- 3.5 (SD; n = 38) mV. Within 2 min after the onset of the fertilization potential, there is a slight, transient pHi decrease of 0.03 +/- (SD, n = 8), followed by a distinct, permanent pHi increase of 0.31 +/- 0.11 (SD; n = 7) beginning approximately 10 min after the start of the fertilization potential and becoming complete approximately 1 h later. The pHi remains near this level of 7.67 +/- 0.13 (SD, n = 10) through at least 10 cleavage cycles, but it is possible to discern pHi oscillations with a mean amplitude of 0.03 +/- 0.02 (SD, n = 38). Eggs perfused for at least 2 h in Na+-free solution with 1 mM amiloride exhibited all of these pHi changes, so these changes do not require extracellular Na+. Similar cytoplasmic alkalinizations that accompany the activation of metabolism and the cell cycle in a wide variety of cell types are discussed.     

Fluorescence lifetime-based pH mapping of tumors in vivo using genetically encoded sensor SypHerRed

Changes in intracellular pH (pHi) reflect metabolic states of cancer cells during tumor growth and dissemination. Therefore, monitoring of pHi is essential for understanding the metabolic mechanisms that support cancer progression. Genetically encoded fluorescent pH sensors have become irreplaceable tools for real-time tracking pH in particular subcellular compartments of living cells. However, ratiometric readout of most of the pH probes is poorly suitable to measure pH in thick samples ex vivo or tissues in vivo including solid tumors. Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) is a promising alternative to the conventional fluorescent microscopy. Here, we present a quantitative approach to map pHi in cancer cells and tumors in vivo, relying on fluorescence lifetime of a genetically encoded pH sensor SypHerRed. We demonstrate the utility of SypHerRed in visualizing pHi in cancer cell culture and in mouse tumor xenografts using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy and macroscopy. For the first time to our knowledge, the absolute pHi value is obtained for tumors in vivo by an optical technique. In addition, we demonstrate the possibility of simultaneous detection of pHi and endogenous fluorescence of metabolic cofactor NADH, which provides a complementary insight into metabolic aspects of cancer. Fluorescence lifetime-based readout and red-shifted spectra make pH sensor SypHerRed a promising instrument for multiparameter in vivo imaging applications.     

Control of intracellular pH. Predominant role of oxidative metabolism, not proton transport, in the eukaryotic microorganism Neurospora

Recessed-tip microelectrodes were used to measure internal pH (pHi) in the fungus Neurospora, and to examine the response of pHi to several kinds of stress: changes of extracellular pH (pHo), inhibition of the principal proton pump in the plasma membrane, and inhibition of respiration. Under control conditions, at pHo = 5.8, pHi in Neurospora is 7.19 +/- 0.04. Changes of pHo between 3.9 and 9.3 affect pHi linearly but with a slope of only approximately 0.1 unit pHi per unit pHo, stable pHi being reached within 3 min of changed pHo. Despite a postulated high passive permeability of the Neurospora membrane to protons (Slayman, 1970), neither active nor passive H+ transport appears critical to pHi because (alpha) specific inhibition of the proton pump by orthovanadate has little effect on pHi, and (b) cytoplasmic acidification produced by respiratory blockade is unaffected by the size or direction of proton gradient. To convert measured changes in pHi into net proton fluxes, intracellular buffering capacity (beta i) was measured by the weak acid/weak base technique. At pHi = 7.2, beta i was (-) 35 mmol H+ (liter cell water)-1 (pH unit)-1, but beta i increased substantially in both the acid and alkaline directions, which suggests that amino acid side chains are the principal source of buffer.     

热带假丝酵母细胞内pH的测定及其与生长代谢活性的关系

应用荧光探针5(6)-双醋酸羧基荧光素 (Carboxyfluorescein diacetate) 测定了产长链二元酸热带假丝酵母 (Candida tropicalis) 细胞内pH (pHi) 值,确定了该探针载入C. tropicalis细胞的适宜条件。用摇瓶培养C. tropicalis细胞,考察了细胞外pH和生长碳源对pH_I的影响,实验结果表明：细胞外pH对pH_I略有影响,而生长碳源对pH_I的影响略为明显。利用5L发酵罐进一步研究了细胞生长代谢活性与pHi的关系,结果表明：细胞比生长速率、CO₂比生产速率和葡萄糖比消耗速率与pHi变化密切相关,pH_I的增加伴随着细胞生长活力的增加,反之亦然。在pH6.0条件下用葡萄糖和醋酸钠共作碳源培养C. tropicalis细胞时,测得的pH_I值维持在5.72～6.15范围内。     

Chemotactic factor-induced activation of Na+/H+ exchange in human neutrophils. II. Intracellular pH changes

The intracellular pH (pHi) changes resulting from chemotactic factor-induced activation of Na+/H+ exchange in isolated human neutrophils were characterized. Intracellular pH was measured from the equilibrium distribution of [14C]-5,5-dimethyloxazolidine-2,4-dione and from the fluorescence of 6-carboxyfluorescein. Exposure of cells to 0.1 microM N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) in 140 mM Na+ medium at extracellular pH (pHo) 7.40 led to a rise in pHi along an exponential time course (rate coefficient approximately 0.55 min-1). By 10 min, a new steady-state pHi was reached (7.75-7.80) that was 0.55-0.60 units higher than the resting pHi of control cells (7.20-7.25). The initial rate of H+ efflux from the cells (approximately 15 meq/liter X min), calculated from the intrinsic intracellular buffering power of approximately 50 mM/pH, was comparable to the rate of net Na+ influx (approximately 17 meq/liter X min), an observation consistent with a 1:1 stoichiometry for Na+/H+ exchange. This counter-transport could be inhibited by amiloride (apparent Ki approximately 75 microM). When either the external ([Na+]o) or internal Na ([Na+]i) concentrations, pHo, or pHi were varied independently, the new steady-state [Na+]i and pHi values in FMLP-stimulated cells were those corresponding to a chemical equilibrium distribution of Na+ and H+ across the cell membrane. By analogy to other activated cells, these results indicate that an alkalinization of pHi in human neutrophils is mediated by a chemotactic factor-induced exchange of internal H+ for external Na+.     

An Na(+)-independent short-chain fatty acid transporter contributes to intracellular pH regulation in murine colonocytes

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are the major anions in the colonic lumen. Experiments studied how intracellular pH (pHi) of isolated colonocytes was affected by exposure to SCFAs normally found in the colon. Isolated crypt fragments were loaded with SNARF-1 (a fluorescent dye with pH-sensitive excitation and emission spectra) and studied in a digital imaging microscope. Intracellular pH was measured in individual colonocytes as the ratio of fluorescence intensity in response to alternating excitation wavelengths (575/505 nm). After exposure to 65 mM acetate, propionate, n-butyrate, or iso-butyrate in isosmotic Na(+)- free media (substituted with tetramethylammonia), all colonocytes acidified rapidly and then > 90% demonstrated a pHi alkalinization (Na(+)-independent pHi recovery). Upon subsequent removal of the SCFA, pHi alkalinized beyond the starting pHi (a pHi overshoot). Using propionate as a test SCFA, experiments demonstrate that the acidification and pHi overshoot are explained by transmembrane influx and efflux of nonionized SCFA, respectively. The basis for the pHi overshoot is shown to be accumulation of propionate during pHi alkalinization. The Na(+)-independent pHi recovery (a) demonstrates saturable propionate activation kinetics; (b) demonstrates substrate specificity for unmodified aliphatic carbon chains; (c) occurs after exposure to SCFAs of widely different metabolic activity, (d) is electroneutral; and (e) is not inhibited by changes in the K+ gradient, Cl- gradient or addition of the anion transport inhibitors DIDS (1 mM), SITS (1 mM), alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate (4 mM), or probenicid (1 mM). Results suggest that most mouse colonocytes have a previously unreported SCFA transporter which mediates Na(+)-independent pHi recovery.     

Use of flow cytometry and SNARF to calibrate and measure intracellular pH in NS0 cells.

BACKGROUND: Two calibration methods have been proposed for determining the relation between the fluorescence ratio of a pH-sensitive fluorescent indicator and intracellular pH (pHi). The first method uses nigericin to clamp pHi to external pH (pHe) and the second is the null point method. We compared these different calibration methods, solution conditions, and temperatures by using flow cytometry and the fluorescent dye 1,5- (and-6)-carboxy seminaphtorhodafluor-1-acetoxymethyl ester with an NS0 cell line. METHODS: The nigericin method was performed in glucose solutions supplemented with KCl and 2-(N-morpholino)ethane sulphonic acid plus tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (solution 1A), a mixture of K2HPO4/KH2PO4 in glucose-solution supplemented solutions (solution 2A), or bicarbonate buffered growth medium supplemented with K2HPO4/KH2PO4 (solution 2B); this allowed a range of pHe values to be used. The effect of temperature (22 degrees C or 37 degrees C) on the nigericin calibration curve was also investigated. The null point method was performed by using a series of solutions with a mixture of weak acid and base with a known pHi response. RESULTS: Using solution 1A as the calibration solution resulted in acidic values of pHi for cells cultured in medium as compared with the values achieved with solution 2A. Using solution 2B did not affect the calibration curve. For the temperatures considered in this study, there was no affect on the calibration curve, but temperature did affect the pHi value of cells in phosphate buffered saline. The pseudo-null point method used with flow cytometry resulted in a calibration curve that was significantly different (P<0.05) from that achieved using the nigericin method. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicates that the choice of calibration solution can affect the reported pHi value; therefore, careful choice of solution is important.     

Effect of hyperthermia on intracellular pH in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Chinese hamster ovary cells were heated at 45.5 or 43.0 degrees C at acidic pH (6.7) or normal physiological pH (7.4) to have a survival of 10(-3). The weak acid, 5,5-dimethyl-2,4-oxazolidinedione-2-14C), was used to measure the intracellular pH (pHi) both during and following hyperthermia. Tritiated water and a Particle Data machine were used to measure cellular volume as well. With 99.9% of the cell population destined to die clonogenically, the physiologically alive cells, as determined by the exclusion of trypan blue dye, maintained their pH differential between pHe and pHi as well as unheated cells. Furthermore, the cell's ability to regulate its pHi in response to changes in pHe was not affected by the same hyperthermic treatment. However, cellular volume decreased by 15-30% by 5 h after the onset of heat treatment. We conclude that heat does not perturb the cellular regulation of intracellular H+ concentration. Therefore, there is no thermal damage to the pHi-regulatory mechanism that could be responsible for either heat-induced reproductive cell death or low pH sensitization of heat killing.     

Intracellular pH-determination by fluorescence measurements.

A method was developed to determine the intracellular pH (pHi) of individual cells by use of fluorescence measurements. The method is based on the observation that the fluorescence excitation spectrum of fluorescein is pH-dependent. Fluorescence excitation spectra from individual rat bone marrow cells treated with fluorescein diacetate (FDA) were compared with those of fluorescein solutions of known pH values. Cells which were suspended in media of pH between 4.0 and 8.1 with high to normal buffering capacities had pHi values equal to those of the media. Cells suspended in media with low buffering capacities maintained a pH,i of 6.7 +/- 0.2. Preliminary results indicated that the pHi of individual cells may also be determined by using flow cytometry.     

Na+/H+ exchange in volume regulation and cytoplasmic pH homeostasis in lymphocytes

Osmotic shrinking activates an amiloride-sensitive Na+/H+ exchange in the membrane of blood and thymic lymphocytes. The exchange, which is virtually quiescent in isotonic conditions, can also be activated by lowering the cytoplasmic pH (pHi). Activation by pHi is largely caused by an allosteric interaction of H+ with a kinetic modifier site, different from the internal substrate site. The set point or threshold pHi for activation of the exchanger is dictated by the protonation of the modifier. Evidence is presented that indicates that cell shrinking alters the pHi sensitivity of the modifier, shifting the set point to more alkaline levels. In the presence of HCO3- and Cl- a volume increase will accompany the change in pHi. Volume changes can also be produced in isotonic solutions if the exchange is activated by acidification of the cytoplasm, e.g., by addition of propionate to the medium. The latter phenomenon provides a simple method for the detection of the Na+/H+ antiport by electronic cell sizing.     

pH regulatory Na/H exchange by Amphiuma red blood cells

In Amphiuma red blood cells, the Na/H exchanger has been shown to play a central role in the regulation of cell volume following cell shrinkage (Cala, P. M. 1980. Journal of General Physiology. 76:683- 708.) The present study was designed to evaluate the existence of pH regulatory Na/H exchange in the Amphiuma red blood cell. The data illustrate that when the intracellular pHi was decreased below the normal value of 7.00, Na/H exchange was activated in proportion to the degree of acidification. Once activated, net Na/H exchange flux persisted until normal intracellular pH (6.9-7.0) was restored, with a half time of approximately 5 min. These observations established a pHi set point of 7.00 for the pH-activated Na/H exchange of Amphiuma red blood cell. This is in contrast to the behavior of osmotically shrunken Amphiuma red blood cells in which no pHi set point could be demonstrated. That is, when activated by cell shrinkage the Na/H exchange mediated net Na flux persisted until normal volume was restored regardless of pHi. In contrast, when activated by cell acidification, the Na/H exchanger functioned until pHi was restored to normal and cell volume appeared to have no effect on pH-activated Na/H exchange. Studies evaluating the kinetic and inferentially, the molecular equivalence of the volume and pHi-induced Amphiuma erythrocyte Na/H exchanger(s), indicated that the apparent Na affinity of the pH activated cells is four times greater than that of shrunken cells. The apparent Vmax is also higher (two times) in the pH activated cells, suggesting the involvement of two distinct populations of the transporter in pH and volume regulation. However, when analyzed in terms of a bisubstrate model, the same data are consistent with the conclusion that both pH and volume regulatory functions are mediated by the same transport protein. Taken together, these data support the conclusion that volume and pH are regulated by the same effector (Na/H exchanger) under the control of as yet unidentified, distinct and cross inhibitory volume and pH sensing mechanisms.     

Intracellular pH and free calcium changes in single cells using quene 1 and quin 2 probes and fluorescence microscopy

Photometric fluorescence microscopy has been used to measure intracellular pH (pHi) and free calcium concentrations [( Ca]i) in individual mouse thymocytes and 2H3 rat basophil leukaemic cells containing indicators for pH (quene 1) or calcium (quin 2). The pHi and [Ca]i measurements in individual 2H3 cells and mouse thymocytes and their responses to various stimuli were consistent with the corresponding data obtained from suspensions of these cells measured in a spectrofluorimeter. Photometric fluorescence microscopy of these indicators in individual cells provides a sensitive and fast method of following pHi and [Ca]i responses in individual cells.