A time course study of water permeability and morphological alterations induced by mucosal hyperosmolarity in frog urinary bladder

Summary The role of the tight junction in the hydrosmotic response of the frog urinary bladder has been analysed by comparative kinetic studies and freeze etching examination. The comparison of the time course of the variations in transepithelial water net flux and of the alterations of tight junction ultrastructure in bladders exposed to mucosal hyperosmolar solutions shows that blisters are present in the tight junction before any increase in transepithelial water net flux. This indicates that the two phenomena are dissociated.In the same experimental conditions, freeze etching examination shows the presence in the tight junction of large areas of smooth and apparently stretched membrane where the typical network structure has disappeared. These alterations are reduced by further treatment with oxytocin and are probably not involved in the physiological hydrosomotic response.This work was supported in part by a grant from the Medical Research Council of Canada (J.H.).