title: Regulation of ion transport across lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) erythrocyte membrane by oxygen tension
abstract: We have measured the effects of oxygen tension on the transport of Na+, K+ and Cl- across the erythrocyte membrane of the lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis. The transport of each ion was affected by the oxygen tension of the medium. Hypoxic conditions (PO2 2 kPa) caused an increase in the acidification-induced influx of Na+ via Na+/H+ exchange. The influx of K+ was only slightly affected by the oxygenation of the medium. In contrast, the basal K+ efflux, measured using the radioactive isotope 43K, was markedly reduced by decreasing the oxygen tension of the medium, whereas the K+ flux in hypotonic medium was not affected. Only minor effects of hypoxic conditions on the influx of Cl- were observed in either isotonic or hypotonic conditions (there was a tendency for the isotonic influx to increase) or on the efflux in isotonic conditions. However, deoxygenation caused a marked reduction in the Cl- efflux in hypotonic conditions. The results show that oxygen tension has a marked effect on the pH and volume regulatory transport pathways of lamprey erythrocytes. For K+ and Cl-, the regulation appears to be asymmetric, i.e. influx and efflux are affected differently.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Division of Animal Physiology, PO Box 17, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland and Department of Biology, FIN-20014 University of Turku, Finland. leila.virkki@quickmail.yale. edu.
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Virkki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salama
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nikinmaa