Volume regulation and intracellular calcium in the rabbit proximal convoluted tubule

The hypothesis that an increase of calcium leads to activation of calcium-activated ionic conductances during cell swelling was examined in the isolated perfused proximal convoluted tubule of the rabbit. Reduction of bath and luminal osmolality by 90 mosmol/kgH2O caused the cells to swell by 23.6 +/- 1.5% (n = 5) and intracellular calcium to rise from 227 +/- 35 to 347 +/- 60 nM (n = 6). Both these increases were transient, with volume decreasing to 5.5 +/- 1.2% above control and intracellular calcium concentration decreasing to 272 +/- 46 nM after 5-9 min. The addition of glucose and alanine to the tubule lumen to increase transcellular sodium transport caused a sustained increase in cell volume of 15.6 +/- 3.4% (n = 4). In parallel experiments, no significant increase in intracellular calcium concentration was observed. Addition of 1 microM of the calcium ionophore, ionomycin, reversibly increased intracellular calcium by 224 +/- 60 nM from a control value of 301 +/- 29 nM (n = 7) and reversibly depolarized the basolateral membrane by 3.6 +/- 0.9 mV (n = 5). However, there was no initial increase in the apparent transference number for potassium or chloride and no significant change in cell volume. We conclude from these observations that the sustained increase in basolateral potassium conductance observed when cells are swollen by hypotonicity or increased sodium transport (J. S. Beck and D. J. Potts. J. Physiol. Lond. 425: 369-378, 1990) is not due to a calcium-activated potassium conductance.