Cu2+ and permeability of isolated frog skin

Effects of divalent cations on chloride movement across amphibian skin

Effects of the divalent heavy metal ions Cd2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Mn2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+ on pathways for sodium and chloride were assessed on isolated amphibian skin (Rana temporaria and esculenta, Bufo marinus and viridis). It was observed that these agents, in addition to the previously reported stimulation of sodium transport, inhibit chloride-related tissue conductance (gCl) in frog skin with spontaneously high gCl when added to the external incubation medium. Serosal application was ineffective. Half-maximal inhibition of gt occurred at approximately 0.2 mmol/l Ni2+ and Zn2+, 0.5 mmol/l Co2+ and Cd2+, and more than 3 mmol/l Mn2+. The onset of inhibition was rapid, steady state values being reached within 3 min; reversibility was complete with approximately similar time course. Cu2+, which could not be tested at concentrations above 0.1 mmol/l, had only minimal and poorly reversible effect on gCl. Skin of Bufo was virtually insensitive to these metal ions. Microelectrode determinations demonstrate that the decrease of conductance was restricted to a pathway distinct from the principal cells which show, on the contrary, increase of apical membrane conductance originating from stimulation of sodium permeability. The metal ions might be valuable for characterization of the pathway and the mechanism of transepithelial conductive chloride transport.

Reversal of copper-induced inhibition of vasopressin responsiveness by reducing agents

Copper inhibits the hydro-osmotic response to vasopressin in the urinary bladder of Bufo marinus at a site proximal to cyclic AMP production. This effect is not reversed by washing in Cu2+ -free Ringer's solution but is overcome by serosal addition of reducing agents, suggesting that vasopressin responsiveness in this tissue is modulated by either the redox potential or the sulfhydryl content of the serosal membrane.

The effect of copper on frog skin: the role of sulphydryl groups

1. Cu2+ at a concentration of 10-4 M, when applied to the external side of the frog skin produces an increase in the short-circuit current (Isc). 2. This effect was studied in skins of Rana temporaria adapted to cold,(5 degrees C) and room temperature (20 degrees C), skins of Rana pipiens adapted to cold, and the results compared with those obtained previously with Rana ribibunda. 3. The observed effect is less dependent upon the adaptation to cold than upon the functional state of the skin: skins with low short circuit currents have a bigger response to Cu2+ than skins with high Isc. 4. A species difference cannot be ruled out since skins of Rana ribibunda exhibiting high Isc give good responses to Cu2+. 5. 5,5' -dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoic acid), a sulphydryl-oxidizing reagent, produces an effect similar to that of Cu2+, and dithiothreitol an SH-reducing agent, reverses the effect of this ion. 6. Cu2+ also induces an increase in the unidirectional K+ fluxes and unmasks a net outward potassium flux. 7. The outward K+ flux induced by Cu2+ is sensitive to ouabain. 8. It is concluded that Cu2+ increases the permeability of the external barrier of the frog skin to Na+ and K+, probably by reacting with SH groups.