Relationship of K and ammonia transport by the turtle bladder

The relationship between K and ammonia transport was investigated in the turtle bladder. At serosal pH 6.4, ammonia transport is preferentially from serosa to mucosa and is, at least in part, mediated by NH4+ transport. Since K and NH4+ share similar features such as permeability and stimulation of Na-K-ATPase, we studied the interaction of transport of these ions by the turtle bladder. Removal of K from the mucosal solution inhibited partially ammonia transport from serosa to mucosa and the inhibition was reversible by restoration of K. In contrast, removal of serosal K failed to inhibit ammonia transport. Since NH4+ can replace K in the activation of Na-K-ATPase in turtle bladder plasma membrane fraction with similar K, we examined the effect of ouabain on ammonia transport. Ouabain added to the serosal solution failed to inhibit ammonia transport thus, suggesting that the Na-K-ATPase is not required for ammonia entry into the cell. Methylammonium (a competitive inhibitor of NH4+ transport in other systems) decreased both ammonia transport and the observed increase in short circuit current elicited by NH4Cl addition to the serosal solution. This finding suggests that NH4+ and methylammonium are transported through a common pathway in the serosal side. Since the permeability of the serosal side to K and NH4+ is similar, we evaluated the effect of serosal depolarization and the effect of barium, an inhibitor of K channels, on ammonia transport. Serosal depolarization inhibited ammonia transport but barium did not affect ammonia flux.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)