Flexibility of an active center in sodium-plus-potassium adenosine triphosphatase

Potassium activated phosphatase from human red blood cells. The effects of p-nitrophenylphosphate on carbon fluxes

1. When red cells are incubated in solutions containing p-nitrophenyl-phosphate (p-NPP), intracellular p-NPP quickly builds up reaching with a half-time of 3 min a concentration in cell water equal to one fourth the external concentration, which under the conditions used is the expected value for a divalent anion in Gibbs-Donnan equilibrium. Hence p-NPP added to the incubation media in red cells has quick access to the active centre of the membrane phosphatase which is located at the inner surface of the cell membrane.2. When p-NPP is added to the incubation media of ATP-free red cells or reconstituted ghosts, no ouabain-sensitive cation movements are detectable, suggesting that hydrolysis of p-NPP by the active transport system is unable to energize active ion translocation.3. When p-NPP concentration in the incubation media of ATP-containing cells is progressively raised, both ouabain-sensitive Na loss and ouabain-sensitive Rb uptake tend to zero along rectangular hyperbolae. For both movements inhibition is half-maximal at 77 mM external p-NPP (i.e. 19 mM internal p-NPP).4. p-NPP inhibits with equal effectiveness the Na:K and the Na:Na exchanges catalysed by the Na pump.5. The inhibitory effect of p-NPP cannot be attributed to the products of its hydrolysis, is inversely related to the intracellular ATP concentration and seems to be exerted at the inner surface of the cell membrane with an apparent affinity similar to that of the membrane phosphatase. These facts suggest that inhibition is mediated by the combination of p-NPP with the active centre of the membrane phosphatase.6. Apart from affecting the ouabain-sensitive cation movements, p-NPP increases the ouabain-resistant uptake and loss of both Na and Rb. This effect is about 4 times larger for Rb than for Na, and its kinetic analysis suggests that it is due to an increase in the passive permeability of the cell membrane.7. The increase in passive cation permeability upon addition of p-NPP cannot be attributed to the products of its hydrolysis. It seems to be due to the combination of p-NPP with a site which, like the active centre of the ouabain-resistant membrane phosphatase, faces the inner surface of the cell membrane, is unaffected by ATP and is half saturated by about 15 mM-p NPP.

Nucleotide requirements for sodium-sodium exchange catalysed by the sodium pump in human red cells

1. Resealed red cell ghosts containing a variety of nucleoside triphosphates, or a mixture of tri- and diphosphates, were allowed to lose (24)Na into a 10 mM-K medium or a K-free high-Na medium in the presence and absence of ouabain.2. Only ATP supported a ouabain-sensitive Na:K exchange in the 10 mM-K medium, or a ouabain-sensitive Na:Na exchange in the K-free medium.3. Because of ATPase and adenylate kinase activity, it is difficult to control the levels of ATP and ADP inside resealed red cell ghosts. Some control was achieved by incorporating into the ghosts an ATP regenerating system consisting of creatine phosphate and creatine kinase.4. Measurements of (24)Na efflux from ghosts prepared in this way showed that ADP is required for the ouabain-sensitive exchange of Na that occurs in K-free high-Na media, but not for the normal exchange of Na for K that occurs in K-containing media.5. The significance of these findings is discussed.

Cooperative control of potassium accumulation by ouabain in vascular smooth muscle

The effects of ouabain on potassium accumulation were studied in the dog carotid artery. It was confirmed that vascular smooth muscle lost potassium in the presence of ouabain greater than 10(-9) molar. This effect could be reversed by systematically increasing potassium in the external medium. The action of ouabain on ion accumulation was represented quantitatively with the application of a recent biophysical approach.

Effects of intracellular adenosine-5'-diphosphate and orthophosphate on the sensitivity of sodium efflux from squid axon to external sodium and potassium

A study was made of sodium efflux from squid giant axon, and its sensitivity to external K and Na. When sodium efflux from untreated axons was strongly stimulated by K(o), Na(o) was inhibitory; when dependence on K(o) was low, Na(o) had a stimulatory effect. Incipient CN poisoning or apyrase injection, which produces high intracellular levels of ADP(1) and P(i), rendered sodium efflux less dependent on external K and more dependent on external Na. Injection of ADP, AMP, arginine, or creatine + creatine phosphokinase, all of which raise ADP levels without raising P(i) levels, had the same effect as incipient CN poisoning. P(i) injection had no effect on the K sensitivity of sodium efflux. Axons depleted of arginine and phosphoarginine by injection of arginase still lost their K sensitivity when the ATP:ADP ratio was lowered and regained it partially when the ratio was raised. Rough calculations show that sodium efflux is maximally K(o)-dependent when the ATP:ADP ratio is about 10:1, becomes insensitive to K(o) when the ratio is about 1:2, and is inhibited by K(o) when the ratio is about 1:10. Deoxy-ATP mimicked ADP when injected into intact axons. Excess Mg, as well as P(i), inhibited both strophanthidin-sensitive and strophanthidin-insensitive sodium efflux. An outline is presented for a model which might explain the effects of ADP, P(i) and deoxy-ATP.