Ion-secreting epithelia: chloride cells in the head region of Fundulus heteroclitus

Abstract

Transporting cells of ion-secreting epithelia are characterized by similar morphological patterns that include rich supplies of mitochondria, exotic patterns of surface amplification, and basolateral, plasma-membrane location of Na-K-ATPase, even though the direction of sodium transport across these epithelia is toward the apical side. Several new models for NaCl secretion propose that sodium, extruded into the intercellular space by Na-K-ATPase, reaches the apical side via the zonulae occludentes. Very recent freeze-fracture electron microscopy of avian salt gland and teleost chloride cells reveals that transporting cells are joined by simple, shallow zonulae occludentes. These observations lend morphological support to the concept that paracellular sodium ion permeation plays a central role in secretion. The chloride ion may traverse the epithelium via a transcellular route, entering the cell at the basolateral membrane by a chloride carrier linked to the cotransport of sodium down its electrochemical gradient into the cell. Finally, the chloride ion may exit the cell across the apical membrane by electrical forces. This review summarizes biochemical, morphological, and electrophysiological aspects of these new secretory models and the important contribution of a half century of research on teleost osmoregulatory mechanisms, including the chloride cell, to our understanding of sodium and chloride transport across secretory epithelia.