Regeneration of cation-transport capacity in HeLa cell membranes after specific blockade by ouabain.

The cardiac glycoside, ouabain, inhibits alkali-cation transport in HeLa cells. It binds to 0.75 x 10(6) sites per cell, and the half-time for its dissociation is 16 hr. After partial blockade by ouabain, the cell generates new ouabain-binding sites, with total restoration of transport in 10% of a cell cycle( approximately 3 hr). This recovery requires protein synthesis and appears to be a response to altered cell-electrolyte content, since growth of cells in media with low K(+) concentration enhances the titer of the transport enzyme in a fashion similar to the effect of ouabain. Totally blocked cells do not recover.