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Intracellular ion concentrations and their maintennance by Na+/K+ -ATPase in preimplantation mouse embroys

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Jay M. Baltz*
Affiliation:
Loeb Medical Research Institute, and Human IVF Program, Ottawa Civic Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Reproductive Biology Unit), and Department of Physiology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Stephen S. Smith
Affiliation:
Brigham and Women's Hospital and Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
John D. Biggers
Affiliation:
Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Claude Lechene
Affiliation:
Brigham and Women's Hospital and Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
*
Dr. Jay M. Baltz, Loeb Medical Research Institute, Ottawa Civic Hospital, 1053 Carling Ave, Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4E9Canada. Tel: +1(613)798-5555 x3714. Fax: +1(613)761-5327. e-mail: [email protected].

Summary

We have measured the amounts of Na+, K+ and C in preimplantation mouse embryos (1-cell, 2-cell and morula) using electron probe X-ray microanalysis. The levels of these ions do not vary much over this period, and are approximately the same as those found in other mammalian cells, contrary to previous reports. We have confirmed that preimplantation embryos exhibit Na+/K+-ATPase activity at all stages examined, and have shown that the ATPase maintains high K+/Na+ ratios (12–16) in all these embryonic stages, comparable to those seen in other healthy cells; this is in contrast to the low ratios reported in earlier work. Inhibition of the Na+/K+-ATPase results in the slow exchange of intracellular K+ for extracellular Na+ (half-time approximately 5 h), indicating that Na+/K+-ATPase activity maintains steep Na+ and K+ gradients in preimplantation mouse embryos as it does in most other cells.

Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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