A ouabain resistant epithelial cell that protects the wild type in co-cultures.
MDCK cells (epithelioid of renal origin) can be cultured as monolayers that resemble natural epithelia. A mutant of these cells (R-MDCK) can grow in cultures exposed to high doses of ouabain (e.g. 100 microM) because one half of its population of pumps has a negligible affinity for this drug. It can also protect the wild type for at least 86 h in co-cultures exposed to ouabain. This article reviews several possible mechanisms of protection, and suggests that it is due to exchange of Na+ and K+ taking place through gap junctions. These connections though, do not seem to be continuous features, but the cells couple intermittently so that, in a given moment, only 28% of them communicate.
D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004285:Dogs; D004351:Drug Resistance; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D004848:Epithelium / Q000187:drug effects; D007668:Kidney; D007700:Kinetics; D010042:Ouabain / Q000494:pharmacology*
D010042:Ouabain