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Biomedical subjects

M Lieberman

Publications and source records attributed to M Lieberman.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Radiation leukemia virus-induced thymic lymphomas express a restricted repertoire of T-cell receptor V beta gene products.

We have investigated the phenotypic changes that take place during the process of neoplastic transformation in the thymocytes of C57BL/Ka mice infected by the radiation leukemia virus (RadLV). By the combined use of antibodies against the envelope glycoprotein gp70 of RadLV, the transformation-associated cell surface marker 1C11, and the CD3-T-cell receptor (TCR) complex, we found that in the RadLV-infected thymus, the earliest expression of viral gp70 is in 1C11hi cells; a small but significant percentage of these cells also express CD3. A first wave of viral replication, manifested by the expression of high levels of gp70 in thymocytes (over 70% positive), reaches a peak at 2 weeks; during this period, no significant changes are observed in the expression of 1C11 or CD3. The population of gp70+ cells is drastically reduced at 3 to 4 weeks after infection. However, a second cohort of gp70+ cells appears after 4 weeks, and these cells express high levels of 1C11 and TCR determinants as well. RadLV-induced lymphomas differ from normal thymocytes in their CD4 CD8 phenotype, with domination by one or more subsets. Characterization of TCR gene rearrangements in RadLV-induced lymphomas shows that most of these tumors are clonal or oligoclonal with respect to the J beta 2 TCR gene, while the J beta 1 TCR gene is rearranged in a minority (4 of 11) of lymphomas. TCR V beta repertoire analysis of 12 tumors reveals that 6 (50%) express exclusively the V beta 6 gene product, 2 (17%) are V beta 5+, and 1 (8%) each are V beta 8+ and V beta 9+. In normal C57BL/Ka mice, V beta 6 is expressed on 12%, V beta 5 is expressed on 9%, V beta 8 is expressed on 22%, and V beta 9 is expressed on 4% of TCRhi thymocytes. Thus, it appears that RadLV-induced thymic lymphomas are not randomly selected with respect to expressed TCR V beta type.

Animals

Sepsis stimulates nonlysosomal, energy-dependent proteolysis and increases ubiquitin mRNA levels in rat skeletal muscle.

We tested the role of different intracellular proteolytic pathways in sepsis-induced muscle proteolysis. Sepsis was induced in rats by cecal ligation and puncture; controls were sham operated. Total and myofibrillar proteolysis was determined in incubated extensor digitorum longus muscles as release of tyrosine and 3-methylhistidine, respectively. Lysosomal proteolysis was assessed by using the lysosomotropic agents NH4Cl, chloroquine, leupeptin, and methylamine. Ca(2+)-dependent proteolysis was determined in the absence or presence of Ca2+ or by blocking the Ca(2+)-dependent proteases calpain I and II. Energy-dependent proteolysis was determined in muscles depleted of ATP by 2-deoxyglucose and 2.4-dinitrophenol. Muscle ubiquitin mRNA and the concentrations of free and conjugated ubiquitin were determined by Northern and Western blots, respectively, to assess the role of the ATP-ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic pathway. Total and myofibrillar protein breakdown was increased during sepsis by 50 and 440%, respectively. Lysosomal and Ca(2+)-dependent proteolysis was similar in control and septic rats. In contrast, energy-dependent total and myofibrillar protein breakdown was increased by 172% and more than fourfold, respectively, in septic muscle. Ubiquitin mRNA was increased severalfold in septic muscle. The results suggest that the increase in muscle proteolysis during sepsis is due to an increase in nonlysosomal energy-dependent protein breakdown, which may involve the ubiquitin system.

Animals

Ion transport during hypothermia in cultured heart cells: implications for protection of the immature myocardium.

In non-adult hearts, hypothermia influences protection of the myocardium by exerting effects on specific ion transporters, thereby altering the normal balance between ion pumps and ion leaks. We studied the effects of hypothermia on individual ion transporters in cardiac myocytes to better understand how to preserve the normal ion balance at reduced temperatures, and thereby enhance myocardial protection. Cardiocytes obtained from 11 day chick embryos were cultured for 3 days, and then equilibrated in a glucose containing HEPES-TRIS buffered salt solution at 37 degrees C (pH = 7.4). The cells were incubated at 10 +/- 2 degrees C for 5 to 360 min in the absence or presence of specific ion transport inhibitors, and ion contents were assessed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Intracellular Na content increased from approximately 90 nmol/mg protein (control) to 2-3 times this value within 30 min, and then returned to control levels by 60 min. This increase in Na was accompanied by a small rise in total Ca (1.5 times control). Acidotic pH (6.4) and/or ethylisopropyl amiloride (100 microM), but not bumetanide (100 microM) prevented the rise in Na content, suggesting the Na/H exchanger contributed to the initial Na influx. Ouabain (1 mM), exacerbated the Na rise and prevented its recovery to control values at 10 degrees C, although Rb flux measurements revealed only a low level of Na/K ATPase activity throughout 240 min at 10 degrees C (15% of 37 degrees C activity). Calcium content rose to 10 times control values in the presence of ouabain at 37 degrees C only, consistent with a lack of significant Na/Ca exchange activity during hypothermia. In conclusion, the effects of hypothermia on ion pumps and ion leaks in embryonic heart cells are as follows: (1) a low level of Na/K ATPase activity contributes significantly to ion regulation; (2) activity of the Na/H exchanger must be attenuated to minimize Na loading; (3) slowing of the Na/Ca exchange may reduce Ca induced cell injury. We suggest that reducing Na/H exchange activity during hypothermia, using cardioplegic solutions with a slightly acidic pH or with added ethylisopropyl amiloride, may enhance the protective effects of hypothermia in non-adult hearts.

Animals

Cardiac cell toxicity induced by 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide is modulated by glutathione.

OBJECTIVE: Cardiac myocytes were exposed to 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide (4-HC, an activated derivative of cyclophosphamide) to assess whether early ionic events are associated with the dose limiting toxicity of this chemotherapeutic agent. METHODS: Primary cultures of embryonic chick cardiac myocytes were grown to confluency and then exposed to a medium containing 4-HC. Cellular sodium, potassium, and calcium contents were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry and related to protein and ATP content. Pretreatment of the cultured heart cells with glutathione depleting or enhancing agents provided the basis for evaluating the involvement of glutathione in the 4-HC-induced cytotoxicity. RESULTS: Administration of 150 microM 4-HC to cardiac myocytes resulted in increases in cellular sodium and calcium contents and decreases in potassium, ATP, and protein contents. Pretreatment of cardiac myocytes with L-buthionine-SR-sulphoximine, a specific inhibitor of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase, depleted cellular glutathione to 12% of control and significantly reduced the minimum concentration of 4-HC causing cytotoxic changes. Conversely, elevation of cellular thiol content by the pretreatment of cardiac myocytes with glutathione monoethyl ester (but not glutathione) provided protection against 4-HC induced cytotoxicity. CONCLUSIONS: Cellular glutahione concentration can markedly influence the 4-HC induced changes in cellular ion content and ATP, which are early indicators of 4-HC induced cytotoxicity.

Adenosine Triphosphate

A chloride current associated with swelling of cultured chick heart cells.

1. Cultured chick heart cells challenged by hyposmotic stress underwent regulatory volume decrease (RVD) that was attenuated by prior depletion of intracellular chloride. 2. During hyposmotic swelling, cell aggregates experienced an initial increase in spontaneous contractile activity followed by eventual quiescence. Conventional microelectrode studies revealed an underlying increase in spontaneous electrical activity, followed by a sustained depolarization beyond threshold. 3. Whole-cell patch clamp studies, with K+ currents blocked, indicated that exposure of cells to hyposmotic solution (NaCl reduction) resulted in a rapid osmotic swelling followed by a substantial increase in whole-cell conductance which persisted for the duration of hyposmotic exposure and was almost completely reversed on return to isosmotic bath solution. 4. For a variety of Cl- concentrations, the reversal potentials (Erev) of the measured swelling-activated current closely followed the calculated Cl- equilibrium potential (ECl) with a linear regression slope of 0.82. When estimated by the Nernst equation, the relationship between Erev and the [Cl-]i/[Cl-]o ratio fitted well with a slope of 51 mV per decade change in the concentration ratio, consistent with a Cl(-)-selective conductance. 5. The permeability ratios of this swelling-activated conductance to chloride, methanesulphonate (MSA) and aspartate (Asp) were calculated as PCl:PMSA:PASP = 1:0.36:0.02, with the ion selectivity sequence of Cl- > MSA- >> Asp-, which suggests the swelling-activated conductance is slightly permeable to other anions. 6. Application of a Cl- channel blocker, diphenylamine-2-carboxylate (DPC, 200 microM), substantially suppressed the swelling-activated current without shifting the Erev of this current. The effect of DPC was independent of membrane potential. 7. This evidence demonstrates that hyposmotic swelling of cultured chick heart cells activates a channel-mediated Cl- conductance which may be associated with the integrated response of volume-regulatory mechanisms.

Animals

Amino acid loss during volume regulatory decrease in cultured chick heart cells.

Mechanisms of volume regulation in hyposomotically treated cultured chick heart cell preparations were studied using optical, biochemical, and nuclear magnetic resonance methods. This approach afforded the resolution of time-dependent responses that might ordinarily be obscured by the complex morphology of intact cardiac muscle preparations. In hyposmotic solutions, cells swelled to a peak volume within 3 min and slowly regulated toward original volume (regulatory volume decrease, RVD). Upon return of the cells to isosmotic solution following hyposmotic treatment, the cells shrank to a steady-state volume that was substantially less than the initial volume in control solution. A vigorous RVD could also be elicited by hyposmotic swelling under Cl(-)-free conditions. Measurement of both inorganic cation loss via atomic absorption spectroscopy and organic solute loss via 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance and high-pressure liquid chromatographic techniques revealed that the RVD observed following exposure to hyposomotic solutions was mediated in part by a substantial loss of taurine, glutamate, aspartate, and glycine as well as loss of inorganic ions (Na+,K+). The hyposmotically activated transport of amino acids was also associated with the production of glutamate and aspartate. The volume regulatory release and production of amino acids have significant implications for the metabolic and functional integrity of cardiac cells.

Amino Acids

Microprobe analysis of Tc-MIBI in heart cells: calculation of mitochondrial membrane potential.

Hexakis (2-methoxyisobutylisonitrile) technetium-99m (99mTc-MIBI) is a gamma-emitting radiopharmaceutical probe currently in clinical use to evaluate myocardial perfusion. Biochemical and cellular pharmacological studies have suggested that Tc-MIBI, a lipophilic cation, is sequestered in mitochondria in response to transmembrane potentials. To assess directly the subcellular distribution of the probe in heart tissue, cultured chick heart cells were analyzed by electron-probe X-ray microanalysis (EPXMA) following equilibration in micromolar concentrations of carrier-added 99Tc-MIBI, the ground-state radiopharmaceutical. Quantitation of the physiological elements Na, Ca, Mg, K, S, P, and Cl was correlated with exposure to increasing concentrations of 99Tc-MIBI. EPXMA signals indicated that 99Tc-MIBI was concentrated up to 1,000 times into mitochondria in a dose-dependent fashion based on measured Tc content in the mitochondria. Inner membrane potential (delta psi) of individual mitochondria was calculated as -117 mV using the Nernst equation. Concentrations of 99Tc-MIBI > 36 microM caused a significant efflux of K and Mg from the cell, as well as an increase in Cl in the mitochondria. Comparison of cell ultrastructure with conventional electron microscopy at extracellular 99Tc-MIBI concentrations of 36-72 microM showed no changes compared with control. 99Tc-MIBI allows valuable in situ investigation of cellular bioenergetics with EPXMA by quantitation of delta psi.

Animals

Magnesium homeostasis in cardiac cells.

Several aspects of Mg2+ homeostasis were investigated in cultured chicken heart cells using the fluorescent Mg2+ indicator, FURAPTRA. The concentration of cytosolic Mg2+ ([Mg2+]i) is 0.48 +/- 0.03 mM (n = 31). To test whether a putative Na/Mg exchange mechanism controls [Mg2+]i below electrochemical equilibrium, we manipulated the Na+ gradient and assessed the effects on [Mg2+]i. When extracellular Na+ was removed, [Mg2+]i increased; this increase was not altered in Mg-free solutions, but was attenuated in Ca-free solutions. A similar increase in [Mg2+]i, which was dependent upon extracellular Ca2+, was observed when intracellular Na+ was raised by inhibiting the Na/K pump with ouabain. These results do not provide evidence for Na/Mg exchange in heart cells, but they suggest that Ca2+ can modulate [Mg2+]i. In addition, removing extracellular Na+ caused a decrease in intracellular pH (pHi), as measured by pH-sensitive microelectrodes, and this acidification was attenuated when Ca2+ was also removed from the solution. These results suggest that Ca2+ and H+ interact intracellularly. Since changes in the Na+ gradient can also alter pHi, we questioned whether pH can modulate [Mg2+]i. pHi was manipulated by the NH4Cl prepulse method. NH4(+)-evoked changes in pHi, as measured by the fluorescent indicator BCECF, were accompanied by opposite changes in [Mg2+]i; [Mg2+]i changed by -0.16 mM/unit pH. These NH4(+)-evoked changes in [Mg2+]i were not caused by movements of Mg2+ or Ca2+ across the sarcolemma or by changes in cytosolic Ca2+. Additionally, pHi was manipulated by changing extracellular pH (pHo).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

Unexpected effects of the severe combined immunodeficiency mutation on murine lymphomagenesis.

Strain C.B17 scid/scid (SCID) mice, which lack functional T and B lymphocytes, show heightened susceptibility to the induction of thymic lymphomas by x-irradiation. Susceptibility is highest in thymus-chimeric SCID-BL mice (thymectomized SCID mice bearing a C57BL thymus graft). All SCID-BL lymphomas originate in the cells of the thymic graft (C57BL type) and lack murine leukemia virus expression. Both SCID and SCID-BL lymphomas are phenotypically CD4-8+ and/or CD4+8+, but only the SCID-BL tumors express CD3. Injection of C57BL or BALB/c bone marrow into irradiated SCID-BL mice prevents lymphoma development, but SCID marrow is completely ineffective. The results suggest that the scid condition enhances the activity of a putative lymphomagenic agent induced in the bone marrow by x-irradiation and that C57BL thymic cells are highly sensitive targets. Moreover, the failure of SCID bone marrow to protect against lymphomagenesis vs. the efficacy of marrow from immunocompetent donors points to involvement of T or B lineage cells in this process.

Animals

Differentiation of CD3-4-8- thymocytes in short-term thymic stromal cell culture.

We have investigated the ability of a heterogeneous thymic stromal cell (HTSC) culture system to promote in vitro differentiation of CD3-4-8- thymocytes. Culture of purified murine CD3-4-8- thymocytes on HTSC for 1 d resulted in the appearance of CD4+8+ cells, which did not occur when the sorted cells were maintained in medium alone. It is remarkable that when the culture period was extended to 2 d, CD3-4-8- progenitors differentiated further to CD4+8- and CD4-8+ cells, which also expressed high levels of TCR-CD3. This rapid differentiation on stroma in vitro appears to outpace parallel development in vivo. The differentiation potential of a subset of CD3-4-8- thymocytes that express high levels of a marker of normal and neoplastic thymic progenitors, the 1C11 antigen, was examined next. 1C11hiCD3-4-8- cells also gave rise to CD4-8+ and CD4+8+ populations after 1 d of culture on HTSC. Extending the culture period to 2 d resulted in a significant percentage of CD3-expressing cells that were CD4+8+, CD4+8- and CD4-8+ cells. These results suggest that in the in vitro HTSC culture system, various subsets of immature thymocytes can differentiate into all the mature phenotypes of cells normally found in the adult mouse thymus. This may provide a novel and rapid assay for thymic progenitors.

Animals

Quick-freezing of cultured cardiac cells in situ with special attention to the mitochondrial ultrastructure.

A new method has been developed which allows quick-freezing in situ of primary, cardiac cell cultures grown to confluence on gas-permeable membranes (Petriperm dishes). Small pieces of the growth substratum, with rhythmically beating myocardial cells, were slam-frozen, without cryoprotectants, against the surface of a helium-cooled copper block at approximately 16 K. The quality of the cellular cryopreservation, as judged by ultrastructural criteria, was studied in freeze-substituted specimens processed for transmission electron microscopy. The ultrastructure of cryofixed cardiac cells was compared with that of unfrozen, chemically fixed samples. The severity of cryodistortions increased progressively with increasing distance from the point of first impact. Of particular interest were the dramatic alterations of the mitochondrial ultrastructure. The concept that the reticular and the outer mitochondrial membranes are intimately and strongly associated was clearly demonstrated. Optimally frozen material revealed cryopreserved ultrastructure of high quality. The method described appears to offer an ideal model system for correlating the information gained by phase-contrast microscopy of living cell cultures with the ultrastructure of the same samples fixed in situ by chemical or physical techniques. Cryofixation would be particularly useful for studying dynamic cellular processes associated with physiological and pathophysiological conditions, e.g. metabolic inhibition, anoxia and substrate deprivation.

Animals

Intracellular pH modulates cytosolic free magnesium in cultured chicken heart cells.

To assess the role of pH in cellular Mg homeostasis, cytosolic pH (pHi) was manipulated by the NH4Cl prepulse technique; pHi, cytosolic Mg2+ (Mgi), and cytosolic Ca2+ (Cai) were measured fluorometrically in single cultured embryonic chicken heart cells loaded with 2',7'-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF), FURAPTRA, and fura-2, respectively. The basal values obtained were as follows: pHi = 7.21 +/- 0.10 (n = 7), [Mg]i = 0.51 +/- 0.08 mM (n = 9), [Ca]i = 126 +/- 15 nM (n = 7). When cells were perfused with 10 mM NH4Cl solution for 5 min, a transient alkalinization (0.53 U) of the cytosol was accompanied by a transient decrease (0.12 mM) in [Mg]i and a transient increase (59 nM) in [Ca]i; these changes approached control levels within 5 min. Upon removal of NH4Cl, a transient acidification (0.89 U) of the cytosol was accompanied by a transient increase (0.10 mM) in [Mg]i and a transient increase (125 nM) in [Ca]i; again, these changes returned toward control levels within 5 min. No significant changes in total cell Mg or Ca were observed during these manipulations. NH4Cl-evoked changes in [Mg]i were not altered significantly by either Mg-free or Ca-free conditions. Changes in [Mg]i were inversely correlated with changes in pHi and were not secondary to changes in [Ca]i. The results suggest that pHi modulates Mgi, probably by affecting cytosolic Mg binding and/or the transport of Mg across subcellular organelles.

Ammonium Chloride

Growth of primary T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomata in SCID-hu mice: requirement for a human lymphoid microenvironment.

We reasoned that the SCID-hu mouse could provide an appropriate lymphoid or stromal microenvironment to support the growth of primary human lymphoma. Heterotransplantation of nine cases of primary T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) into untreated SCID mice and SCID mice reconstituted with human fetal thymus, spleen, and liver (SCID-hu) resulted in the development of lymphoid tumors in five (56%) cases. Two clonal T-cell NHL grew after a mean of 90 days after injection of primary lymphoma cell suspensions into the thymus xenografts in SCID-hu mice and failed to grow in a variety of sites in SCID mice, except for small tumors that developed after a long (157-day) latency period after intracranial injection of tumor cell suspensions into weanling SCID mice. Successful serial transplantation of NHL in SCID and SCID-hu mice required the presence of a human lymphoid or tumor microenvironment, and was enhanced by pretreating the SCID mice with 175 rad radiation and antiasialo antisera. Analysis of the primary and transplanted T-cell tumors showed identical patterns of T-cell surface markers by flow cytometry and immunophenotyping of fixed tissue sections, and, in one case, reactivity with a specific monoclonal antibody to V beta 5.1. Genotyping of the transplanted tumors showed T-cell receptor gene rearrangements identical to those present in the primary tumors. In one case, the presence of Epstein-Barr virus-positive B cells in association with the primary tumor resulted in the growth of a lymphoblastoid B-cell neoplasm in addition to the malignant T-cell lymphoma after transplantation of tumor fragments to SCID mice. The data support the hypothesis that a human lymphoid microenvironment enhances the growth of T-cell NHL in SCID mice. The SCID-hu thymus graft provides an apparently unique microenvironment that supports the growth of primary T-cell NHL, and can be used to study the interaction between lymphoma cells, nontransformed lymphoid cells, and the surrounding stromal microenvironment in vivo.

Animals

Adenine nucleotide degradation in cultured chick heart muscle cells.

Cultured chick heart muscle cells degrade ATP during metabolic inhibition via ADP to AMP. Whether AMP is primarily deaminated to IMP or dephosphorylated to adenosine depends on the 'metabolic block' (glycolysis vs. oxidative phosphorylation). Inhibition of glycolysis (deoxyglucose) results in an inosine/adenosine ratio greater than 1 in the supernatant, whereas the nucleoside ratio is less than or equal to 1 during inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation (hypoxia, rotenone). EHNA, a blocker of adenosine deaminase, has little effect on inosine release during metabolic inhibition, consistent with the reported low activity of adenosine deaminase in cardiac muscle cells. The amount of adenosine and inosine released can be largely attenuated by two nucleoside carrier inhibitors, nitrobenzyl-thioinosine and dipyridamole, which suggests that nucleosides are produced intracellularly and subsequently released. These results indicate that the amount of inosine or adenosine released from the cardiomyocyte during impaired energy metabolism (e.g. ischemia) can be controlled by the metabolic state of the cell.

Adenine

Structural and elemental characterization of heart cells grown in a collagen matrix.

A novel preparation of spontaneously contracting heart cells embedded in a collagen strand provides an ideal experimental system for correlative structure-function experiments that utilize the techniques of electron microscopy, quantitative electron probe x-ray microanalysis (EPXMA) and imaging. Heart cells grown within the strand for 1 day possess the subcellular content and distribution of physiologically relevant elements--Na, Mg, P, S, Cl, K, and Ca--found in intact heart cell preparations. The presence of junctional specializations between, and organized myofibrils within, the majority of cells after 1 day in culture also establishes that the collagen matrix promotes vigorous cell development as well as maintains physiological integrity. EPXMA, combined with ultrastructural analyses, provides elemental content data on a cell-by-cell basis. In studies presented here, viable cells, comprising over 80% of the strand cell population, could be distinguished easily from those which had been functionally compromised, not only by aberrant structure but also by altered subcellular compartmentation of Na, K, Cl, and Ca. Within individual viable cells, compartmental differences in element content were notable especially between mitochondria and cytoplasm. However, nuclear euchromatin, but not heterochromatin, appeared approximately identical to cytoplasm in elemental and water content. In such cells, the cytoplasmic K:Na ratio was maintained at a high level (approximately 15:1). The results with respect to K, Na, and other elements demonstrated the integrity of membrane transport mechanisms regulating the movement and distribution of ions and the maintenance of ionic homeostasis in cells of the strand preparation.

Animals

Apparent affinity of the Na/K pump for ouabain in cultured chick cardiac myocytes. Effects of Nai and Ko.

The measured apparent affinity (K0.5) of the Na/K pump for ouabain has been reported to vary over a wide range. In a previous report we found that changing Nai could alter apparent affinity by at least an order of magnitude and that the model presented predicted this variability. To increase our understanding of this variability, isolated cells or two- to three-cell clusters of cardiac myocytes from 11-d embryonic chick were used to measure the effects of Nai and Ko on the K0.5 of the Na/K pump for ouabain. Myocytes were whole-cell patch clamped and Na/K pump current (Ip) was measured in preparations exposed to a Ca-free modified Hank's solution (HBSS) that contained 1 mM Ba, 10 mM Cs, and 0.1 mM Cd. Under these conditions there are no Ko-sensitive currents other than Ip because removal of Ko in the presence of ouabain had no effect on the current-voltage (I-V) relation. The I-V relation for Ip showed that in the presence of 5.4 mM Ko and 51 mM Nai, Ip has a slight voltage dependence, decreasing approximately 30% from 0 to -130 mV. Increasing Nai in the patch pipette from 6 to 51 mM (Ko = 5.4 mM) caused Ip to increase from 0.46 +/- 0.07 (n = 5) to 1.34 +/- 0.08 microA/cm2 (n = 13) with a K0.5 for Nai of 17.4 mM and decreased the K0.5 for ouabain from 18.5 +/- 1.8 (n = 4) to 3.1 +/- 0.4 microM (n = 3). Similarly, varying Ko between 0.3 and 10.8 mM (Nai = 24 mM) increased Ip from 0.13 +/- 0.01 (n = 5) to 0.90 +/- 0.05 microA/cm2 (n = 5) with a K0.5 for Ko of 1.94 mM and increased K0.5 for ouabain from 0.56 +/- 0.14 (n = 3-6) to 10.0 +/- 1.1 microM (n = 6). All of these changes are predicted by the model presented. A qualitative explanation of these results is that Nai and Ko interact with the Na/K pump to shift the steady-state distribution of the Na/K pump molecules among the kinetic states. This shift in state distribution alters the probability that the Na/K pump will be in the conformation that binds ouabain with high affinity, thus altering the apparent affinity. In intact cells, the measured apparent affinity represents a combination of all the rate constants in the model and does not equate to simple first-order binding kinetics.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals