The control of intracellular pH in cultured avian chondrocytes

1. Mechanical loading of cartilaginous tissue generates an increase in the concentration of cations in the extracellular matrix. This includes a decrease of the extracellular pH (pHo), which is known to affect the intracellular pH (pHi), thereby modifying the intracellular metabolism. Thus, the regulation of pHi is essential for the physiological function of cartilage. The fluorescent pH-sensitive dye 2',7'-bis(carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein acetoxymethyl ester (BCECF AM) was employed in order to assess the mechanisms responsible for control of the pHi in an embryonic avian chondrocyte cell suspension. 2. Steady-state pHi in the absence of physiological HCO3- was 7.15 +/- 0.01 pH units as compared to a pHi of 6.94 +/- 0.02 pH units in its presence (P < 0.01). The intrinsic buffering power of chondrocytes (beta i) was 38.9 mM/pH unit and the total buffering capacity (beta T) was 65.8 mM/pH unit. 3. Cells maintained in a Hepes-buffered solution were exposed to an intracellular acid load by the NH4+ prepulse technique (20 mM NH4Cl). The initial rate of pHi recovery was 0.106 pH units/min (n = 18). Amiloride (0.33 mM), an inhibitor of the Na(+)-H+ exchanger, or replacement of external sodium [Na+]o with choline induced a 60% inhibition of the recovery rate, indicating a predominant involvement of this antiporter in the response to intracellular acidification. 4. H(+)-ATPase inhibitors (oligomycin 20 micrograms/ml; N,N;-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC), 0.5 mM; N-ethylmaleimide (NEM), 0.25 mM) and iodomycin (2 mM), a metabolic cell suppressor, reduced acid extrusion by 25% as measured by the NH4Cl prepulse in Hepes-bathed cells. 5. Chondrocytes transferred from a Hepes-buffered solution to a 5% CO2-25 mM HCO3- medium (HCO3- solution) underwent a pHi decrease of approximately 0.20 pH units, followed by a regulatory alkalinizing response of 0.118 pH units/min. The Na(+)-H+ exchanger was responsible for only 15% of this alkalinization (amiloride, 0.33 mM), in contrast to its primary role in HCO(3-)-free solution. 6. The activity of a Na(+)-dependent Cl(-)-HCO3- exchanger in physiological HCO3- solution was estimated by addition of the inhibitors 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulphonic acid (SITS; 0.5 mM) or diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulphonic acid (DIDS; 100 microM) and by the suspensions of chondrocytes in a Na(+)-free solution. Acidification performed under these conditions resulted in a 45% inhibition of the recovery rate as compared to control rates.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)