Potassium selectivity of frog gastric luminal membrane

Transmural potential difference (PD) and resistance (R) changes after luminal or serosal instillation of K+ were determined under various conditions in chambered preparations of frog gastric mucosae. Potassium selectivity of the luminal membrane is indicated by the rapid reversal of the inverted PD of mucosae bathed in NaCl-free, choline sulfate (Ch2SO4)-Ringer on the serosal side and unbuffered hypertonic Ch2SO4 solution on the luminal side on luminal K+ instillation. The delta PD responses are significantly attenuated, however, in histamine-stimulated mucosae bathed in hypotonic or in burimamide-inhibited mucosae bathed in hyper- and hypotonic luminal media, which suggests that the K+ selectivity of the luminal membrane resides largely in the tubular cell apical membrane. Imposing a serosal-to-luminal transmucosal K+ gradient in both histamine-stimulated and omeprazole-inhibited mucosae also reversed the normal orientation of PD but not in those inhibited with burimamide. In the latter, the PD inversion was attenuated but maintained its normal orientation. These data suggest that burimamide, but not omeprazole, acts by blocking luminal membrane K+ conductance. The inverted PD in mucosae bathed in Cl-free media may thus be due partially or fully to K+ diffusion driven by the cell-to-lumen K+ gradient via the luminal K+ conductance pathway. These findings have implications for the controversy surrounding the postulated electrogenicity of the gastric proton pump.