Characteristics of the paracellular pathway of rabbit cortical collecting duct

The nature of the paracellular pathway of the rabbit cortical collecting duct (CCD) was examined under conditions designed to eliminate all cellular ion transport. Transcellular conductive pathways were blocked by addition of amiloride and Ba2+ to the perfusate. Cl self-exchange was eliminated by removing Cl from the bath solution, and HCO3 transport was eliminated by omitting HCO3 and CO2 from the solutions. The residual transepithelial conductance (GT) and radioisotopic tracer flux under these conditions probably occur via the paracellular pathway. The GT measured in nontransporting CCD bathed in NaCl solutions was 1.1-1.2 mS/cm2. When Na or Cl was replaced by a less mobile ion, the GT decreased by an amount commensurate with the decrease in solution conductivity. The Na-to-Cl permeability ratio determined by NaCl dilution voltages ranged from 0.55 to 0.82. An independent estimate of paracellular selectivity was obtained by comparing the lumen-to-bath tracer rate coefficients for Na (kNa) and Cl (kCl). The ratio kNa:kCl was 0.75. These observations suggest that the paracellular pathway displays a Na:Cl permselectivity not substantially different from the ratio of their mobilities in water (0.65). Additional experiments demonstrated that the summed partial ionic conductances of Na and Cl calculated from the tracer fluxes were in close agreement with the measured GT. We conclude that the paracellular conductance of CCD is nonselective in character and approximately 1-2 mS/cm2 in magnitude.