Hypotonicity and cell volume regulation in shark rectal gland: role of organic osmolytes and F-actin

Abstract

Hypotonic stress (reduction of external tonicity from approximately 900 mosM and 295 mM NaCl to approximately 600 mosM and 135 mM NaCl) produced a relatively slow regulatory volume decrease (RVD) in dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias) rectal gland cells. During the 5-h experiment, cell K+ content remained unchanged; cell content of Na+ and Cl- dropped in the initial swelling phase by some 50% (reflecting the corresponding reduction in medium NaCl), and then remained unchanged during volume recovery phase. Also, cellular fluxes of 86Rb+ and urea were not affected by hypotonic stress. However, hypotonicity enhanced 10- to 20-fold the efflux of organic cell osmolytes taurine, betaine, and trimethyloxamine, and this accounted for the loss of osmotically obliged water during RVD. Enhancement of osmolyte efflux by hypotonic stress was abolished by readjusting the low-Na+ saline to isotonicity (approximately 900 mosM) with innocuous cations (choline+, Li+, or N-methylglucamine+). The results suggest that reduction of medium tonicity may be the determinant for the RVD response to hypotonic stress. The above properties of the observed RVD were also displayed when studying changes on cell F-actin at the basolateral cell face; hypotonic stress (medium with 135 mM NaCl) produced a rapid disappearance of fluorescence related to this cytoskeletal component, whereas no such changes were seen in low-Na+ salines made isotonic with choline or N-methylglucamine chloride nor in a saline made hyposmolar by omitting urea. Hence, hypotonicity is required to affect F-actin organization (depolymerization?). These changes of F-actin fluorescence are transient; they were completed within 5-10 min of hypotonic stress, and afterwards a gradual reconstitution of cell F-actin organization was seen. The above observations are consistent with the assumption that, in shark rectal gland cells, transient loss of cytoskeleton (F-actin) organization at the basolateral cell face, induced by hypotonicity, brings about a selective efflux of organic osmolytes, thus producing the observed RVD.