Regulation of intracellular pH in the spontaneously hypertensive rat. Role of bicarbonate-dependent transporters.

Previous studies that have evaluated the Na(+)-H+ antiporter in cells from hypertensive subjects were generally performed under conditions in which HCO3-CO2, the physiological buffer system, was absent from the assay media. The objective of this study was to evaluate the activity of the Na(+)-H+ antiporter and that of the Na(+)-dependent and Na(+)-independent Cl(-)-HCO3- exchangers in cells assayed in the presence of HCO3-CO2 in the media. Lymphocytes from 6- to 8-week-old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and age-matched Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were obtained from the thymus gland and assayed immediately after isolation. The activity of the Na(+)-H+ antiporter after stimulation by cell acidification (pHi approximately 6.4) was similar in SHR and WKY rats (18.67 +/- 1.03 and 16.12 +/- 0.92 mmol H+/L per minute, respectively). Recovery from cell alkalinization was effected by an Na(+)-independent Cl(-)-HCO3- exchanger, with maximal activity at an alkaline pHi (approximately 7.7). The stimulated activity of this Na(+)-independent Cl(-)-HCO3- exchanger was also not different between SHR and WKY cells (2.65 +/- 0.25 and 2.55 +/- 0.32 mmol H+/L per minute, respectively). Acute chloride removal produced a rise in pHi that was Na(+)-dependent and sensitive to 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS) but resistant to ethylisopropylamiloride (EIPA), reflecting the activity of an Na(+)-dependent Cl(-)-HCO3- exchanger. Unlike the Na(+)-H+ exchanger and the Na(+)-independent Cl(-)-HCO3- exchanger, which had their highest activities at extremes of pHi (low pHi, Na(+)-H+ exchanger, and high pHi, Na(+)-independent Cl(-)-HCO3- exchanger), the Na(+)-dependent Cl(-)-HCO3- exchanger had its maximal activity near steady-state pHi (approximately 7.1). No significant differences were found in the stimulated activity of this exchanger between cells from SHR and WKY rats (2.23 +/- 0.26 and 2.50 +/- 0.43 mmol H+/L per minute, respectively). The kinetic properties of the Na(+)-dependent and Na(+)-independent Cl(-)-HCO3- exchanger, examined as a function of external Cl-, were also virtually identical in cells from SHR and WKY rats. We conclude that in lymphocytes from SHR and WKY rats, the activity of the two Cl(-)-HCO3- exchangers, like that of the Na(+)-H+ exchanger, is dependent on the prevailing pHi. The Na(+)-dependent Cl(-)-HCO3- exchanger has its highest activity near steady-state pHi, suggesting an important role in the cell defense against intracellular acidosis under physiological conditions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)