Influence of glucose on Ehrlich cell volume, ion transport, and membrane potential

Incubating Ehrlich ascites tumor cells with 10 mM glucose at room temperature resulted in the following changes. The cells shrank, reaching a minimum volume after 1 h. The decrease in cell volume was 50-90% inhibited by 1 mM furosemide. The mmol K+ and Cl-/mg dry wt decreased, and mmol Na+/mg dry wt increased over the 1 h incubation. The net loss of KCl was inhibited by 1 mM furosemide. Immediately after the addition of glucose, the influx of 86Rb sensitive to ouabain decreased, whereas the influx sensitive to furosemide increased. The total influx of 86Rb with glucose was similar to that of controls. The effluxes of 86Rb and 36Cl increased immediately after the addition of glucose. These effluxes did not increase, however, in the presence of 1 mM furosemide. Initially the ouabain-sensitive Na+ efflux was not changed with glucose, but the ouabain-insensitive Na+ efflux decreased. Furosemide (1 mM) did not influence Na+ efflux. With time the ouabain-sensitive Na+ efflux increased as cellular Na+ levels rose so that at 1 h the ouabain-sensitive Na+ efflux from glucose-treated cells was 2.5-3 times that of control cells. The potential difference across the membrane gradually became more negative by approximately 25 mV, reaching a maximum after 1 h. The hyperpolarization was reversed by 1 mM ouabain. The changes in ionic fluxes on the addition of glucose are compared with changes in ionic fluxes seen during volume regulation.