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The Journal of Experimental Biology 205, 1069-1075 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

Determinants of intracellular pH in gas gland cells of the swimbladder of the European eel Anguilla anguilla

E. Sötz, H. Niederstätter and B. Pelster^*

Institut für Zoologie und Limnologie, Universität Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: Bernd.Pelster{at}uibk.ac.at )

Accepted 30 January 2002

Gas gland cells of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) were cultured on collagen-coated coverslips, and intracellular pH was measured using the pH-sensitive fluorescent probe 2',7'-bis-(2-carboxypropyl)-5-(6)-carboxyfluorescein (BCPCF). The contributions of various proton-translocating mechanisms to homeostasis of intracellular pH (pHi) were assessed by adding specific inhibitors of the various proton-translocating mechanisms at a constant extracellular pH (pHe) of 7.4 and after artificial acidification of the cells using the ammonium pulse technique. The greatest decrease in pHi was observed after addition of 5-(N-ethyl-N-isobutyl)-amiloride (MIA), an inhibitor of Na⁺/H⁺ exchange. Na⁺/H⁺ exchange was active under steady-state conditions at an extracellular pH of 7.4, and activity increased after intracellular acidification. Incubation of gas gland cells with 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulphonic acid (DIDS), an inhibitor of anion exchange, also caused a decrease in pHi, but this decrease was not as pronounced as in the presence of MIA. Furthermore, at low pHi, the effect of DIDS was further reduced, suggesting that bicarbonate-exchanging mechanisms are involved in maintaining a steady-state pHi but that their importance is reduced at low pH. Bafilomycin A₁, a specific inhibitor of the V-ATPase, had no effect on steady-state pHi. However, recovery of intracellular pH after an artificial acid load was significantly impaired in the presence of bafilomycin. Our results suggest that Na⁺/H⁺ exchange and anion exchange are important for the regulation of pHi at alkaline values of pHe. When pHi is low, a situation probably often encountered by gas gland cells during gas secretion, Na⁺/H⁺ exchange continues to play an important role in acid secretion and a V-ATPase appears to contribute to proton secretion.

Key words: swimbladder, gas gland cell, V-ATPase, Na⁺/H⁺ exchange, anion exchange, European eel, Anguilla anguilla, pHi

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