The effect of smooth muscle on the intercellular spaces in toad urinary bladder.

Phase microscopy of toad urinary bladder has demonstrated that vasopressin can cause an enlargement of the epithelial intercellular spaces under conditions of no net transfer of water or sodium. The suggestion that this phenomenon is linked to the hormone's action as a smooth muscle relaxant has been tested and verified with the use of other agents effecting smooth muscle: atropine and adenine compounds (relaxants), K(+) and acetylcholine (contractants). Furthermore, it was possible to reduce the size and number of intercellular spaces, relative to a control, while increasing the rate of osmotic water flow. A method for quantifying these results has been developed and shows that they are, indeed, significant. It is concluded, therefore, that the configuration of intercellular spaces is not a reliable index of water flow across this epithelium and that such a morphologic-physiologic relationship is tenuous in any epithelium supported by a submucosa rich in smooth muscle.

The anatomic site of the transepithelial permeability barriers of toad bladder.

An examination of the mucosal epithelium of the urinary bladder of the toad reveals that the two major cell types which abut on the urinary surface, the granular and mitochondria-rich cells, also contact the basement membrane. Thus, the epithelium functions as a single cell layer. Although basal cells are interpolated between the granular cells and the basement membrane over a large portion of the epithelium, they do not constitute an additional continuous cell layer. This finding is consistent with extensive physiological data which had assumed that the major permeability barriers of this epithelium were the apical and basal-lateral plasma membranes of a single layer of cells.

On the distribution of Na+-pump sites in the frog skin.

Exposure of the outside of the isolated frog skin to a Ringer's solution, made hypertonic by the addition of mannitol, causes a rapid and sustained increase in transepithelial permeability through a structural distortion-a focal blistering-of the "tight" junctions of the outermost living cell layer. [(3)H]ouabain, used as an autoradiographic marker for the Na+-pump (Na+-K+-adenosine triphosphatase), is usually unable to penetrate the frog skin from the outside solution, but when added to a hypertonic mannitol- Ringer's solution in the outside bath it readily penetrates the epithelium, presumably through the opened shunt pathway. Radioautographic analysis of [(3)H]ouabain binding sites revealed that most of ouabain enters from the outside solution binds to the sites on the cell membranes of the stratum spinosum, as was the case when it was applied from the inside bath in an earlier study. The outer living cell layer, the first to be exposed to ouabain, does not appear to be the major site for the Na+-pump, and therefore, is not likely to be responsible for most of the active pumping of Na+. This result demonstrates that previous failure to show a high density of Na+-pump sites on the cells of the outermost layer, when [(3)H]ouabain was applied from the inside solution, was not due to the inability of the marker to reach these cells at a sufficient concentration to reveal all pump sites. These results provide further support for a model of Na+-transport across the frog skin which distributes the active pump step on the inward facing membranes of all living cells.

Role of the septate junction in the regulation of paracellular transepithelial flow.

A comparison of the distribution of septate junctions in invertebrate epithelia and tight junctions in vertebrate systems suggests that these structures may be functionally analogous. This proposition is supported by the internal design of each junction which constitutes a serial arrangement of structures crossing the intercellular space between cells to effectively provide resistance to the paracellular flow of water and small molecules. We have tested the validity of such an analogy by examining whether the osmotic sensitivity of the septate junctions of planarian epidermis follow the rather striking pattern observed for the junctions of very tight vertebrate epithelia (e.g. toad urinary bladder). It has been found that the septate junctions in this system respond in similar fashion to their vertebrate counterparts, blistering with accumulated fluid when the medium outside the epidermis is made hypertonic with small, water-soluble molecules. We conclude that the two types of junction probably are functionally analogous and that, in each case, this rectified structural response to transepithelial osmotic gradients may be indicative of the role of such structures in the transport function of epithelia.

ATP dependence of H+ secretion.

Cells in isolated rabbit gastric gland were made permeable to ATP by high voltage discharge across a gland suspension. In both normal (5.4 mM K+) and high K+ (108 mM) medium, this electrical shock resulted in a marked reduction in the ability of the parietal cell to produce and accumulate acid. Acid production was monitored both microscopically by acridine orange accumulation in the secretory canaliculus and by accumulation of the weak base [14C]aminopyrine. In 108 mM K+ solutions but not in 5.4 mM K+ solutions 5, mM ATP was able to restore the accumulation of these probes to control (unshocked) levels. When shocked glands had been previously stimulated by secretagogues, the aminopyrine accumulation ratio was only partly restored by ATP. Inhibition of mitochondrial respiration by cyanide, azide, or Amytal abolished acid secretion; the subsequent addition of ATP to shocked glands increased the aminopyrine accumulation ratio to 47 and resulted in an acridine orange fluorescence indistinguishable from that of histamine-stimulated, unshocked glands. We conclude that ATP can act as a substrate for H+ secretion in the parietal cell, and that perhaps no additional energy source is necessary.

Localization of Na+-pump sites in frog skin.

The localization of Na+-pump sites (Na+-K+-ATPase) in the frog skin epithelium was determined by a freeze-dry radioautographic method for identifying [3H]ouabain-binding sites. Ventral pelvic skins of Rana catesbeiana were mounted in Ussing chambers and exposed to 10(-6) M [3H]ouabain for 120 min, washed in ouabain-free Ringer's solution for 60 min, and then processed for radioautography. Ouabain-binding sites were localized on the inward facing (serosal) membranes of all the living cells. Quantitative analysis of grain distribution showed that the overwhelming majority of Na+-pump sites were localized deep to the outer living cell layer, i.e., in the stratum spinosum and stratum germinativum. Binding of ouabain was correlated with inhibition of Na+ transport. Specificity of ouabain binding to Na+-K+-ATPase was verified by demonstrating its sensitivity to the concentration of ligands (K+, ATP) that affect binding of ouabain to the enzyme. Additional studies supported the conclusion that the distribution of bound ouabain reflects the distribution of those pumps involved in the active transepithelial transport of Na+. After a 30-min exposure to [3H]ouabain, Na+ transport declined to a level that was significantly less than that in untreated paired controls, and analysis of grain distribution showed that over 90% of the ouabain-binding sites were localized to the inner cell layers. Furthermore, in skins where Na+ transport had been completely inhibited by exposure to 10(-5) M ouabain, the grain distribution was identical to that in skins exposed to 10(-6) M. The results support a model which depicts all the living cell layers functioning as a syncytium with regard to the active transepithelial transport of Na+.

Toad urinary bladder: intercellular spaces.

Vasopressin causes dilation of the intercellular spaces of the mucosal epithelium in toad bladder, an effect previously thought to result from enhanced net transepithelial water transport. Under conditions of zero net fluid transport, vasopressin exerted the same effect in seven tissues, which indicates that the width of the intercellular spaces cannot be taken as a reliable index of net transepithelial fluid transport.

Collagenases in human synovial fluid.

An enzyme which degrades native collagen at neutral pH has been isolated from cultures of rheumatoid synovium in vitro, but little or no collagenolytic activity has been found in homogenates of fresh rheumatoid synovium. Similar to most other mammalian collagenases this synovial enzyme is readily inhibited by serum proteins. Proteins of synovial fluid are derived largely from serum and synovial fluid from noninflamed joints was found to inhibit synovial collagenase; the inhibitor was destroyed by trypsin, but not by hyaluronidase. Inhibitory activity was reduced in approximately one-half of the fluids from patients with rheumatoid arthritis. In a total of nine synovial fluids, collagenolytic activity was detectable. This activity was not present in constant amounts in synovial fluids aspirated at different times from the same patient and tended to vary inversely with the titer of inhibitory proteins. The collagenolytic activity in the synovial fluids from different patients was variably inhibited by serum proteins. Two distinct collagenases were detected in some rheumatoid synovial fluids and separated by gel filtration. One, labeled "B" enzyme, with an estimated molecular weight 20,000-25,000 resembled the collagenase obtained from synovial cultures. The other, labeled "A" enzyme degraded collagen fibrils as well as collagen in solution. Disc electrophoresis on acrylamide gels and electron microscopy of segment long spacing (SLS) aggregates of reaction products of the enzymes at 27 degrees C demonstrated that both "A" and "B" enzymes cleaved collagen molecules at a point three-quarters from the amino terminal end of the molecule. Thus collagen degradation in rheumatoid arthritis could result from the operation of these two collagenases.

A study of intercellular spaces in the rabbit jejunum during acute volume expansion and after treatment with cholera toxin.

The effects of acute volume expansion and of intraluminal administration of cholera toxin have been examined in rabbit jejunum. Acute volume expansion was shown to reverse the normal reabsorptive flux of water and cause significant fluid secretion. Phase and electronmicroscopic examination of the jejunal epithelium showed that marked distension of the intercellular spaces had occurred. Examination of the jejunal epithelium after treatment with cholera toxin showed that, in association with high rates of fluid secretion, the intercellular spaces were extremely small and lateral membranes of adjacent cells were in close apposition to one another. Thus the mechanisms of fluid secretion in these two situations would appear to be quite different. The secretion associated with volume expansion, and accompanied by a rise in venous pressure and bullous deformations of terminal junctions, could well be due to hydrostatic pressure applied through intercellular channels. The secretion of cholera appears to be unrelated to hydrostatic pressure and is more likely due to body-to-lumen active ion transport.

Localization of the action of cholera toxin on adenyl cyclase in mucosal epithelial cells of rabbit intestine.

Brush borders and plasma membranes have been purified from mucosal epithelial cells of rabbit ileum under control conditions and after treatment for 3 hr with cholera toxin in vivo. The activity of several enzymes in these preparations was measured. It was concluded that adenyl cyclase, like NaK-ATPase, seems not to be a normal constituent of brush borders. Both these enzymes are present in plasma membrane preparations derived largely from the basal and lateral margins of the epithelial cells, both may be phospholipid dependent enzymes and both are affected by cholera toxin. Adenyl cyclase activity is increased while NaK-ATPase is decreased. The activities of alkaline phosphatase, leucineaminopeptidase, 5'-nucleotidase, glucose-6-phosphatase, and Mg-ATPase were not found to be affected by the toxin. Cholera toxin, which makes contact with the luminal side of the epithelial cells, in the natural disease and in the experimental model, would appear to exert its pathologic effect on adenyl cyclase at the opposite (basal and lateral) side of the cells.

The role of cell swelling in ischemic renal damage and the protective effect of hypertonic solute.

The failure of blood flow to return to the kidney following a transient period of ischemia has long been recognized. The cause of this "no-reflow" has been investigated in the rat after a transient period of total obstruction of the renal arteries. The vascular pattern of the kidneys as visualized with silicone rubber injection shows a diffuse patchy ischemia throughout the kidney, which persists after release of the obstructed renal artery. Electron microscopic studies of ischemic kidneys showed that all cellular elements were swollen and limiting the available vascular space. Functional studies revealed an increase in plasma urea nitrogen and creatinine after 1 hr or longer ischemic periods. The ischemia, cell swelling, "no-reflow," and subsequent renal dysfunction occurring after obstruction to the renal arteries were corrected by the administration of hypertonic mannitol, but were unaffected by an equivalent expansion of the extracellular fluid volume either with isotonic saline or isotonic mannitol, showing that the osmotic effect was primary. The hypothesis is presented that ischemic swelling of cells may occlude small blood vessels so that recirculation does not resume even after the initial cause of the ischemia is no longer present; solutes which do not penetrate cell membranes are able to shrink swollen cells, increase the available vascular space and thus permit reflow of blood to the ischemic organ.

Cytoplasmic involvement in ADH-mediated osmosis across toad urinary bladder.

Several lines of investigation have suggested that antidiuretic hormone (ADH) may have direct effects on the cytoskeletal organization of granular epithelial cells in the toad urinary bladder. To some extent, these effects are in concert with the well-established action of ADH on the hydraulic permeability of the mucosal plasma membrane, but it appears that other conformational adjustments (largely cytoplasmic) may be of comparable importance. The thrust of this review is that the hormone brings about a general restructuring of the granular cells so that the epithelium as a whole may function efficiently as an osmotic pathway. Details of cytoskeletal changes are far from clear as yet, but interference with or modulation of these particular effects infer that cytoplasmic organization is the seat of feedback control of osmotic flow rate, the basis for viability in the presence of dramatic cytosolic dilution and a major factor in the observed disparity in osmotic and diffusional permeability coefficients. In the interest of stimulating new thoughts and experiments in this area, a number of preliminary findings have been freely cited.

Functional analysis of tight junction organization.

The functional basis of tight junction design has been examined from the point of view that this rate-limiting barrier to paracellular transport is a multicompartment system. Review of the osmotic sensitivity of these structures points to the need for this sort of analysis for meaningful correlation of structure and function under a range of conditions. A similar conclusion is drawn with respect to results from voltage-clamping protocols where reversal of spontaneous transmural potential difference elicits parallel changes in both structure and function in much the same way as does reversal of naturally occurring osmotic gradients. In each case, it becomes necessary to regard the junction as a functionally polarized structure to account for observations of its rectifying properties. Lastly, the details of experimentally-induced junction deformation are examined in light of current theories of its organization; arguments are presented in favor of the view that the primary components of intramembranous organization (as viewed with freeze-fracture techniques) are lipidic rather than proteinaceous.

Direct visualization of epithelial morphology in the living amphibian urinary bladder.

Differential interference-contrast microscopy has been applied to the study of amphibian urinary bladders, in vitro. It is demonstrated that well-resolved images can be obtained with little loss of tissue viability. Direct observations have been made on the structure of microvilli, the distribution of mitochondria in the mitochondria-rich cells, and the patency of lateral intercellular spaces. It is noted that the effective viscosity of cytoplasm is very high--that it is apparently a gel in which there is no Brownian movement of organelles. The frequency, shape, and pattern of distribution of granular and mitochondria-rich cells is determined for the commonly studied varieties of Bufo marinus. Bladders from Colombian toads contain more and larger mitochondria-rich cells than do those of the Dominican variety. There is no specific arrangement of cell-cell contacts to suggest a structural basis for cooperativeness of action. Finally, a longitudinal study of osmotically-induced changes in the structure of the "tight" or "limiting" junctions establishes the validity of previous findings by electron microscopy.

Microfilaments and the hydrosmotic action of vasopressin in toad urinary bladder.

The role of cytoskeletal elements in the antidiuretic hormone (ADH)-induced hydrosmotic response of the toad bladder has been investigated with the microfilament and microtubule disrupting agents, cytochalasin B and colchicine. In the presence of a transmural osmotic gradient, addition of ADH resulted in a measured osmotic permeability coefficient (Pf) of 190 +/- 12 micrometers/s; preincubation with cytochalasin B (2 x 10(-5) M) reduced this value to 138 +/- 6. However, ADH-induced diffusional permeability to tritiated water (PD) was enhanced by 17% with cytochalasin B. The toxin caused a pronounced vacuolation in granular cells only when both ADH and an osmotic gradient were present. This led to experiments with brief glutaraldehyde fixation after hormonal stimulation but before osmotic gradient imposition. Subsequent osmotic flow measurements yielded Pf values of 180 +/- 18 and 210 +/- 7 micrometers/s for ADH and ADH + cytochalasin B, respectively. With gradient imposition only after tissue fixation, no structural alterations were found. We conclude that cytochalasin B inhibition is through disruption of the intracellular portion of the pathway for osmotic flows. Comparable experimentation with colchicine indicated that its interference is primarily with ADH action on the mucosal membrane itself. These results may bear on the significance of particle aggregation in the mucosal membrane, which has been thought to indicate ADH-induced water channels but which is reported to be precluded by cytochalasin B treatment.

Clarification of the intercellular space phenomenon in toad urinary bladder.

Vasopressin has been noted to increase the size of the intercellular spaces of toad bladder epithelium even in the absence of an osmotic gradient. The present studies demonstrate that the same phenomenon may be obtained in the presence or absence of a transepithelial gradient of glutaraldehyde indicating that the effect is not a fixation artifact. Morphologic evidence is presented demonstrating continuity between the epithelium and underlying smooth muscle. The data support the concept that not only net water flow, but also changes in smooth muscle tone can appreciably affect the epithelial geometry.

Distribution of Na+-pump sites in transporting epithelia.

There are three techniques for the localization of intraepithelial Na+, K+-ATPase (usually equated with the Na+-pump) that offer reasonable specificity and resolution: the nitrophenylphosphatase assay of Ernst, the immunoferritin procedure of Kyte, and the radioautographic localization of tritiated ouabain as developed by Stirling. These have now been applied to a wide range of epithelia covering the four classes of interest here: isotonic and hypertonic absorbers and isotonic and hypertonic secretors. A review of published results reveals that in every case (except for the choroid plexus) the enzyme is preferentially located on the basolateral surface of the transporting epithelial cells so that a simple correlation of structure and function in terms of the Koefoed-Johnsen and Ussing hypothesis does not seem possible. With little dispute that this enzyme is, nonetheless, the probable site for conversion of metabolic energy to transport-related work, we summarized as well the more macroscopic structural characteristics of epithelia which serve to typify each of the four classes in terms of the direction and tonicity of transported fluid. The apparently systematic differences in cell shape and cell-cell junctions that are summarized here may well be an important consideration for the development of a useful holistic theory with which to explain the transepithelial transport of salt and water.

Pathways for movement of ions and water across toad urinary bladder. III. Physiologic significance of the paracellular pathway.

Hypertonicity of the mucosal bathing medium increases the electrical conductance of toad urinary bladder by osmotic distension of the epithelial "tight" or limiting junctions. However, toad urine is not normally hypertonic to plasma. In this study, the transmural osmotic gradient was varied strictly within the physiologic range; initially hypotonic mucosal bathing media were made isotonic by addition of a variety of solutes. Mucosal NaCl increased tissue conductance substantially. This phenomenon could not have reflected soley an altered conductance of the transcellular active transport pathway since mucosal KCl also increased tissue conductance, whether or not Na+ was present in the bathing media. The effect of mucosal NaCl could not have been mediated solely by a parallel transepithelial pathway formed by damaged tissue since mucosal addition of certain nonelectrolytes also increased tissue conductance. Finally, the osmotically-induced increase in conductance could not have occurred soley in transcellular transepithelial channels in parallel with the active pathway for Na+, since the permeability to 22Na from serosa to mucosa (s to m) was also increased by mucosal addition of NaCl; a number of lines of evidence suggest that s-to-m movement of Na+ proceeds largely through paracellular transepithelial pathways. The results thus establish that the permeability of the limiting junctions is physiologically dependent on the magnitude of the transmural osmotic gradient. A major role is proposed for this mechanism, serving to conserve the body stores of NaCl from excessive urinary excretion.