To elucidate the purpose of butterfly puddling, we measured the amounts of Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ that were absorbed or excreted during puddling by male Japanese Papilio butterflies through a urine test. All of the butterflies that sipped water with a Na+ concentration of 13 mM absorbed Na+ and excreted K+, although certain butterflies that sipped solutions with high concentrations of Na+ excr...

The stoichiometry and voltage dependence of the Na/K pump were studied in internally dialyzed, voltage-clamped squid giant axons by simultaneously measuring, at various membrane potentials, the changes in Na efflux (delta phi Na) and holding current (delta I) induced by dihydrodigitoxigenin (H2DTG). H2DTG stops the Na/K pump without directly affecting other current pathways: (a) it causes no de...

The distribution and rates of exchange of the ions sodium, potassium, and chloride in single internodal cells of the ecorticate characean, Nitellopsis obtusa, have been studied. In tracer experiments three kinetic compartments were found, the outermost "free space" of the cell, a compartment we have called "protoplasmic non-free space", and the cell sap. The concentrations in the vacuole were 5...

The distribution and rates of exchange of the ions sodium, potassium, and chloride in single internodal cells of the ecorticate characean, Nitdlopsis obtusa, have been studied. In tracer experiments three kinetic compartments were found, the outermost "free space" of the cell, a compartment we have called "protoplasmic non4ree space", and the cell sap. The concentrations in the vacuole were 54 ...

PURPOSE The Na(+)-/K(+)-dependent ATPase (Na,K-ATPase) expressed in the basolateral membrane of corneal endothelial cells plays an important role in the pump function of the corneal endothelium. The role of insulin in the regulation of Na,K-ATPase activity and pump function in corneal endothelial cells was investigated. METHODS Confluent monolayers of mouse corneal endothelial cells were expo...

We have found a defect in the ouabain-sensitive Na+, K+-ATPase (Na+ pump, EC 3.6.1.37) of erythrocytes from streptozocin diabetic rats. This defect was accompanied by an increase in cell volume and osmotic fragility and a decrease in the cytosolic K+/Na+ ratio. There was also a doubling in the time needed for diabetic erythrocytes to pass through 4.7-micron channels in a polycarbonate filter. O...