Membrane effects of chloride substitutes in guinea pig gallbladder epithelial cells

Differences in the responses of guinea pig gallbladder epithelial cells to replacement of luminal Cl- with either isethionate (I), gluconate (G), sulfate (S), or cyclamate (C) were investigated in vitro using intracellular microelectrode techniques. In prostaglandin E1 (PGE1)-treated tissues (10(-6) M, serosal side), where electrodiffusive apical membrane Cl- permeability (PCla) is high, replacement of luminal Cl- caused transient membrane depolarizations of similar magnitudes but different times to peak (C greater than G = S greater than I). The subsequent shifts in membrane voltages were, at steady state, straight correlated with the concomitant increases in apparent ratio of apical to basolateral membrane resistances (Ra/Rb). Increases followed the rank order I greater than G = S greater than C, which was also found to be the case in the peak membrane hyperpolarizations on restoring luminal Cl-. Under control conditions (no PGE1, low PCla), three of the substitutes caused a slow hyperpolarization, C greater than G = S, whereas an I-for-Cl- substitution evoked a transient depolarization and a drop in Ra/Rb. Under both control and PGE1 conditions, a transient depolarization followed luminal I-for-C substitution. Our results are best explained by a stimulatory effect of I (and, less marked, G and S) on PCla. Intrinsic effects of cyclamate are not ruled out; however, among the substitutes examined, it is the most inert.