Transport and distribution of sodium across frog skin

Abstract

The time course of ]22Na influx across frog skin mounted as a flat sheet between 2 lucite chambers has been studied. The flux reaches its maximal steady value in about 30 min. The time course of changes in 22Na specific activity in the cells has been followed by 2 different methods: periodical measurements of 22Na activity in pieces of skin mounted in a special device in which the outer facing membrane was in contact with the tracer and measurement of uptake of 24Na in individual pieces of skin suspended in Ringer solution. Under both circumstances the skin failed to exchange all its Na. Considerations on the basis of the kinetics of 22Na influx and 22Na specific activity indicate that there exist at least 2 different Na compartments in the epithelium, one of them being directly involved in Na transport. The 22Na specific activity profile was studied in skins which had previously been mounted as a flat sheet between 2 chambers with tracer in one of them. This was carried out by removing the skin from the chamber, freezing, slicing and analyzing the slices for Na and 22Na. The results indicate that both Na compartments are distributed across the whole epithelium. The results of these studies are taken to indicate: that the Na partition in the tissue is not a result of the Na being contained in different cellular layers; that Na transport across frog skin is carried out by all the epithelial cells and is not restricted to those of a particular layer; that Na entry from an outer solution containing from 1 to 10 mM-Na occurs into the transporting cells down an electrochemical potential gradient and therefore need not involve an active mechanism at the outer border of the cells.