Summary

Trout and eel red blood cell Na+/H+ exchangers show widely different regulatory properties. Catecholamines, cyclic AMP and phorbol esters, which activate the trout red cell antiporter, do not affect the eel exchanger. Unlike the trout red cell exchanger, the eel red cell exchanger is strongly activated by cell shrinkage, allowing a remarkable cell volume recovery. These different regulatory properties probably indicate the existence of different isoforms of the exchangers in nucleated erythrocytes, since sensitivity to catecholamines is known to be dependent upon the presence of protein kinase A consensus sites on the cytoplasmic domain of the antiporter. After shrinkage of eel erythrocytes, the Na+/H+ exchange rate gradually increases to reach a maximum value after about 10 min. The magnitude of activation is a graded function of cell shrinkage. Deactivation, like activation, is induced by a volume change and occurs after some delay (lag time). The response of the trout antiporter (betaNHE) to cell shrinkage is much reduced compared with that of the eel antiporter. In addition, the antiporter is deactivated prior to restoration of the normal control volume, leaving cell volume regulation notably defective. The trout red cell antiporter, which is desensitized and enters a refractory state following hormonal activation, is only deactivated (it can be reversibly reactivated) after shrinkage-induced activation. This dual control may occur by both phosphorylation-dependent and phosphorylation-independent mechanisms. In view of the similarities in the regulatory properties of eel and salamander (Amphiuma sp.) Na+/H+ exchangers, the expression of a putative K+/H+ exchange mediated by the N+/H+ exchanger was sought in eel erythrocytes. However, neither osmotic swelling nor calyculin-A-dependent phosphorylation revealed such a K+/H+ exchange.