Effects of mucosal sodium removal on cell volume in Necturus gallbladder epithelium

Necturus gallbladder epithelium transports sodium and chloride by a process that first involves the cellular entry of each ion across the apical membrane in an electrically silent process. In this paper we present results from cell volume and fluid flux measurements in the presence of different inhibitors and at normal and reduced sodium concentrations, which bear on the process by which ionic entry is effected. We find that reduction of mucosal sodium to a concentration of 10 mM has no effect on either cell volume or on the rate of transepithelial fluid transport, whereas the complete removal of sodium causes a significant decrease in cell volume in addition to its known inhibitory effect on fluid transport. Amiloride had no effect on cell volume at normal sodium concentrations but markedly reduced it when the sodium concentration was reduced to 10 mM. Amiloride, bumetanide, and dipyridamole markedly and reversibly inhibited fluid transport. Finally, the addition of ouabain to the serosal medium induced cell swelling, which was prevented by the removal of potassium from the mucosal medium. These results indicate that the process of sodium entry at the apical membrane is complicated and likely includes both cotransport (NaCl or Na-K-2Cl) and parallel exchange (Na-H and Cl-HCO3) transport mechanisms, and that the proportion of NaCl transported by the different mechanisms varies with the conditions.