Anion-coupled Na efflux mediated by the human red blood cell Na/K pump

Red blood cell Na pump: Insights from species differences

The red blood cell membrane is specialized to exchange chloride and bicarbonate; usually the pH gradient, the chloride ratio, and the membrane potential are tightly coupled. We review the evidence that led to the ability to separately vary inside and outside pH in red cells. The effect of pH on Na pump activity and on the selectivity of the inside and the outside transport sites is reviewed. In red blood cells, at high pH, the outside site is not selective. An increase in protons leads to an increase in K(+) affinity, thus making the site more selective. The pK for this site is different in rats and humans; because of the high conservation of residues in these two species, there are only a few possible residues that can account for this difference. On the inside, work from unsided preparations suggests that, at high pH, the transport site is highly selective for Na(+). Once again, an increase in protons leads to an increase in K(+) affinity, but now the result is a less selective site. During their maturation, reticulocytes lose many membrane proteins. The type and fractional loss is species dependent. For example, most reticulocytes lose most of their Na pumps, retaining about 100 pumps per cell, but animals from the order Carnivora lose all their pumps. We review some of the evidence that PKC phosphorylation of N-terminus serines is responsible for endocytosis in other cell types and species variation in this region.

My Passion and Passages with Red Blood Cells

This article mainly presents, in sequential panels of time, an overview of my professional involvements and laboratory experiences. I became smitten with red blood cells early on, and this passion remains with me to this day. I highlight certain studies, together with those who performed the work, recognizing that it was necessary to limit the details and the topics chosen for discussion. I am uncertain of the interest a personal account has for others, but at least it's here for the record.

Extracellular protons regulate the extracellular cation selectivity of the sodium pump

The effects of 0.3-10 nM extracellular protons (pH 9.5-8.0) on ouabain-sensitive rubidium influx were determined in 4,4'-diisocyanostilbene-2, 2'-disulfonate (DIDS)-treated human and rat erythrocytes. This treatment clamps the intracellular H. We found that rubidium binds much better to the protonated pump than the unprotonated pump; 13-fold better in rat and 34-fold better in human erythrocytes. This clearly shows that protons are not competing with rubidium in this proton concentration range. Bretylium and tetrapropylammonium also bind much better to the protonated pump than the unprotonated pump in human erythrocytes and in this sense they are potassium-like ions. In contrast, guanidinium and sodium bind about equally well to protonated and unprotonated pump in human red cells. In rat red cells, protons actually make sodium bind less well (about sevenfold). Thus, protons have substantially different effects on the binding of rubidium and sodium. The effect of protons on ouabain binding in rat red cells was intermediate between the effects of protons on rubidium binding and on sodium binding. Remarkably, all four cationic inhibitors (bretylium, guanidinium, sodium, and tetrapropylammonium) had similar apparent inhibitory constants for the unprotonated pump ( approximately 5-10 mM). The K(d) for proton binding to the human pump, with the empty transport site facing extracellularly is 13 nM, whereas the extracellular transport site loaded with sodium is 9.5 nM, and with rubidium is 0.38 nM. In rat red cells there is also a substantial difference in the K(d) for proton binding to the sodium-loaded pump (14.5 nM) and the rubidium-loaded pump (0.158 nM). These data suggest that important rearrangements occur at the extracellular pump surface as the pump moves between conformations in which the outward facing transport site has sodium bound, is empty, or has rubidium bound and that guanidinium is sodium-like and bretylium and tetrapropylammonium are rubidium-like.

Na,K-ATPase subunit isoforms in human reticulocytes: evidence from reverse transcription-PCR for the presence of alpha1, alpha3, beta2, beta3, and gamma

The objective of this study has been to determine which Na,K-ATPase isoforms are expressed in red blood cells and whether kinetic differences in the uncoupled sodium efflux mode between the human red blood cell Na,K-ATPase and other preparations can be explained by differences in the underlying subunit composition. To this end, human reticulocyte RNA was isolated, reverse transcribed, amplified by PCR and appropriate primers, and sequenced. Primers from highly conserved areas as well as isoform-specific primers were used. The alpha1 and alpha3 isoforms of the alpha subunit, and the beta2 and beta3 isoforms of the beta subunit were found. The complete coding regions of the cDNAs for the reticulocyte subunits were sequenced from overlapping PCR fragments. No difference was found between the reticulocyte isoforms and the ones already known. The fact that we found beta2 but not beta1 in reticulocyte single-stranded cDNA, and beta1 but not beta2 in a leukocyte library indicates that leukocyte contamination of our reticulocyte preparation was negligible. Analysis of a human bone marrow library showed that alpha1, alpha2, and alpha3 as well as all three beta isoforms were present. The extent to which the kinetic properties of uncoupled sodium efflux might depend on different isoform combinations is not yet known.

The effect of ionic strength and specific anions on substrate binding and hydrolytic activities of Na,K-ATPase

The physiological ligands for Na,K-ATPase (the Na,K-pump) are ions, and electrostatic forces, that could be revealed by their ionic strength dependence, are therefore expected to be important for their reaction with the enzyme. We found that the affinities for ADP3-, eosine2-, p-nitrophenylphosphate, and V(max) for Na,K-ATPase and K+-activated p-nitrophenylphosphatase activity, were all decreased by increasing salt concentration and by specific anions. Equilibrium binding of ADP was measured at 0-0.5 M of NaCl, Na2SO4, and NaNO3 and in 0.1 M Na-acetate, NaSCN, and NaClO4. The apparent affinity for ADP decreased up to 30 times. At equal ionic strength, I, the ranking of the salt effect was NaCl approximately Na2SO4 approximately Na-acetate < NaNO3 < NaSCN < NaCl04. We treated the influence of NaCl and Na2SO4 on K(diss) for E x ADP as a "pure" ionic strength effect. It is quantitatively simulated by a model where the binding site and ADP are point charges, and where their activity coefficients are related to I by the limiting law of Debye and Hückel. The estimated net charge at the binding site of the enzyme was about +1. Eosin binding followed the same model. The NO3- effect was compatible with competitive binding of NO3- and ADP in addition to the general I-effect. K(diss) for E x NO3 was approximately 32 mM. Analysis of V(max)/K(m) for Na,K-ATPase and K+-p-nitrophenylphosphatase activity shows that electrostatic forces are important for the binding of p-nitrophenylphosphate but not for the catalytic effect of ATP on the low affinity site. The net charge at the p-nitrophenylphosphate-binding site was also about +1. The results reported here indicate that the reversible interactions between ions and Na,K-ATPase can be grouped according to either simple Debye-Hückel behavior or to specific anion or cation interactions with the enzyme.

A conformation of Na(+)-K+ pump is permeable to proton

The Na(+)-K+ pump is thought to operate through a two-conformation (E1-E2) transport cycle in which the cation binding sites are accessible only from one side at a time. Using Na(+)-loaded Xenopus oocytes in which Na(+)-K+ pumps were overexpressed by injection of cRNA of the Xenopus Na(+)-K+ pump alpha-and beta-sub units, we observed a Na(+)-K+ pump-mediated (ouabain-sensitive) inward current in the absence of other transportable cations, except H+, in the external solution. This inward current was strongly inwardly rectifying, pH dependent, and larger at acid pH. Under conditions favoring a large ouabain-sensitive inward current, we observed a ouabain-sensitive intracellular acidification, and the amplitude of the acidification was significantly related to the ouabain-sensitive current, indicating that this current was carried by protons. The reversal potential of the ouabain-sensitive current was dependent on external pH as expected for a proton-conductive pathway. We conclude that in the absence of external K+ the Na(+)-K+ pump can mediate a large inward electrogenic transport of proton. This is most easily explained by the hypothesis that the E2 conformation of the Na(+)-K+ pump with cation binding sites exposed to the outside is accessible to protons from both sides and thus provides a channellike pathway for protons.

Comparative aspects of Na+/K+ pump-mediated uncoupled Na+ efflux in red blood cells and kidney proteoliposomes

Ouabain-sensitive uncoupled Na+ efflux has been studied in human, pig, and rat red cells and in vesicles containing reconstituted kidney Na+/K+ pumps obtained from these same species. The red cells from the different species gave qualitatively similar results; the uncoupled Na+ efflux was 15-30% of the Na+/K+ exchange rate, and this flux was inhibited at 5 mM extracellular Na+ (Na+o). At higher levels of Na+o there was a monotonic increase in the Na+ efflux. As has previously been observed in human red cells, the uncoupled efflux from pig red cells consists of Na+ and anion cotransport, suggesting that anion cotransport may be a general characteristic of uncoupled Na+ efflux in red cells. The uncoupled Na+ efflux carried out by pig and rat kidney Na+/K+ pumps differs from the red cell activity in that it represents no more than 2-4% of the Na+/K+ exchange rate and that 5 mM Na+o does not inhibit this efflux. Furthermore, the efflux does not appear to be dependent on anion cotransport. Vesicles containing human kidney Na+/K+ pumps differ from vesicles derived from pig or rat kidneys in that the Na+ efflux is not inhibited or stimulated by Na+ present on the opposite side; it thus appears that the Na+,K(+)-ATPase in these vesicles may be incapable of Na+/Na+ exchange. These results indicate that the ligand and kinetic properties of the uncoupled Na+ efflux mode of red cells are markedly different from kidney-derived Na+/K+ pumps reconstituted into proteoliposomes. The basis for these differences may be inherent in the Na+/K+ pumps themselves or represent differences between the two types of preparations studied.