AJP - Cell Physiology, Vol 266, Issue 4 C946-C956, Copyright © 1994 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

Acidification stimulates chloride and fluid absorption across frog retinal pigment epithelium

J. L. Edelman, H. Lin and S. S. Miller
School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley 94720.

Radioactive tracers and a modified capacitance-probe technique were used to characterize the mechanisms that mediate Cl and fluid absorption across the bullfrog retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)-choroid. In control (HCO3/CO2) Ringer solution, 36Cl was actively absorbed (retina to choroid) at a mean rate of 0.34 mu eq.cm-2.h-1 (n = 34) and accounted for approximately 25% of the short-circuit current. Apical bumetanide (100 microM) or basal 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS; 1 mM) inhibited active Cl transport by 70 and 62%, respectively. Active Cl absorption was doubled, either by removing HCO3 from the bathing media or by elevating CO2 from 5 to 13%, and the increased flux was inhibited by apical bumetanide or basal DIDS. Open-circuit measurements of fluid absorption rate (Jv) and the net fluxes of 36Cl, 22Na, and 86Rb (K substitute) indicated that CO2-induced acidification stimulated NaCl and fluid absorption across the RPE. During acidification, bumetanide produced a twofold larger inhibition of Jv compared with control. Stimulation of net Cl absorption was most likely caused by inhibition of the the basolateral membrane intracellular pH-dependent Cl-HCO3 exchanger.

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