Effects of extracellular calcium and potassium on the sodium pump of rat adrenal glomerulosa cells

Abstract

Because the activity of the sodium pump (Na-K-ATPase) influences the secretion of aldosterone, we determined how extracellular potassium (Ko) and calcium affect sodium pump activity in rat adrenal glomerulosa cells. Sodium pump activity was measured as ouabain-sensitive 86Rb uptake in freshly dispersed cells containing 20 mM sodium as measured with sodium-binding benzofluran isophthalate. Increasing Ko from 4 to 10 mM in the presence of 1.8 mM extracellular calcium (Cao) stimulated sodium pump activity up to 165% and increased intracellular free calcium as measured with fura 2. Increasing Ko from 4 to 10 mM in the absence of Cao stimulated the sodium pump ∼30% and did not increase intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i). In some experiments, addition of 1.8 mM Cao in the presence of 4 mM Ko increased [Ca2+]i above the levels observed in the absence of Cao and stimulated the sodium pump up to 100%. Ca-dependent stimulation of the sodium pump by Ko and Cao was inhibited by isradipine (10 μM), a blocker of L- and T-type calcium channels, by compound 48/80 (40 μg/ml) and calmidizolium (10 μM), which inhibits calmodulin (CaM), and by KN-62 (10 μM), which blocks some forms of Ca/CaM kinase II (CaMKII). Staurosporine (1 μM), which effectively blocks most forms of protein kinase C, had no effect. In the presence of A-23187, a calcium ionophore, the addition of 0.1 mM Cao increased [Ca2+]i to the level observed in the presence of 10 mM Ko and 1.8 mM Cao and stimulated the sodium pump 100%. Ca-dependent stimulation by A-23187 and 0.1 mM Cao was not reduced by isradipine but was blocked by KN-62. Thus, under the conditions that Ko stimulates aldosterone secretion, it stimulates the sodium pump by two mechanisms: direct binding to the pump and by increasing calcium influx, which is dependent on Cao. The resulting increase in [Ca2+]i may stimulate the sodium pump by activating CaM and/or CaMKII.