Osmotic pressures of solutions of ATP and catecholamines relating to storage in chromaffin granules

The chromaffin granule, which is the catecholamine storage organelle of the adrenal medulla, contains at least 0.73 M ions, yet it is isotonic with 0.3 osM solutions. One hypothesis which accounts for this disparity is formation of a complex between major constituents of the granule: the catecholamines, the proteins, and the ATP. In this paper we show by vapor pressure osmometry, which affords a direct measure of colligative properties, that ATP-catecholamine mixtures form highly nonideal solutions. At 37 degrees C, solutions containing 0.6 M epinephrine and 0.15 M ATP show an effective osmotic pressure of only 0.25 osM. The existence of polymeric complexes is implied by the fact that the increase of osmotic pressure with increasing concentrations of ATP and catecholamine falls off substantially at concentrations approaching those in the chromaffin granules. Neither inorganic ions nor calcium chelators cause regain of ideal colligative behavior. Osmotic measurements on model compounds suggest that the primary interaction is between the phosphate and amino groups. There is also evidence that the effects are not wholly due to the formation of discrete complexes; factors of nonideal solution behavior also play a role in lowering the osmotic pressure. These observations show that the stability of the chromaffin granule in situ can be accounted for, perhaps entirely, by spontaneous interactions among nucleotides and catecholamines.