Abstract
The present study was designed to investigate i) the action of various nucleotides on membrane permeability of rat red blood cell and hepatocyte for $Na^{+}$ and $Rb^{+}$ ii) the characteristics of purinoceptors on these cell membranes. Blood from Sprague-Dawley rats was obtained by carotid arterial cannulation. Red blood cells were then washed 3 times with saline at $4{\circ}C$. Hepatic parenchymal cells were isolated from rat livers by using a modification of the Berry and Friend (1969) method. For the $Na^{+}$ influx studies, isolated RBC and hepatocyte were incubated in incubation medium containing $^{22}Na^{+}0.2\;{\mu}Ci/ml$ at $37^{\circ}C$. After various time intervals samples were removed from the incubation flask and washed out 3 times with ice-cold washing solutions. Cells were destroyed by adding Triton X-100 and TCA solution. After centrifugation, the supernatants were assayed for $^{22}Na^{+}$ by gamma counter. $^{86}Rb^{+}$ was used to simulate $K^{+}$ in these $K^{+}efflux$ studies. Isolated hepatocytes were incubated for 60 min in the loading solution containing $^{86}Rb^{+}\;10\;{\mu}Ci/ml$ at $37^{\circ}C$. After loading, the cells washed out 3 times by centrifugation with washing solution. The cells were incubated in buffer solution at $37^{\circ}C$. At intervals thereafter, samples were removed and centrifuged. The supernatants were analyzed for $^{86}Rb^{+}$ by liquid scintillation counter. The main results of the experiments were: 1) ATP and ATPP increased in both $^{22}Na^{+}$ influx and $^{86}Rb^{+}$ efflux in the red blood cell. Although ADP showed a tendency to increase in RBC membrane permeability for $^{22}Na^{+}$ and $^{86}Rb^{+}$, the changes were not significantly different from the control. 2) The Significant changes in $^{22}Na^{+}$ and $^{86}Rb^{+}$ flux by ATP were also demonstrated in hepatocyte. ATPP and ADP showed a tendency to increase in hepatocyte membrane permeability for both ions. 3) Other nucleoside triphosphates-ITP, GTP and CTP-did not change in membrane permeability for $^{22}Na^{+}$ and $^{86}Rb^{+}$ in RBC and hepatocyte. In conclusion, not only ATP but also ATPP activate purinoceptors and change in membrane permeability for $Na^{+}$ and $K^{+}$. In order to activate purinoceptors on the cell membrane, the nucleotides have to possess intact adenine moiety and three phosphates or more in its molecule.