Developmental aspects of potassium flux and permeability of the embryonic chick heart.

1. The rate coefficient of 42K efflux, the transmembrane potential, the intracellular concentrations of Na and K and the volume/surface area have been measured in embryonic chick hearts of different ages. 2. With respect to age, the rate coefficient for 42K efflux was minimal for preparations from 6-8 day old embryos, and distinctly higher values were obtained for the hearts of 3-5 and 18-20 days. With respect to the effect of external K concentration (Ko), all age groups showed a five- to sevenfold increase in rate coefficient between 2-5 and 140 mM-Ko. The effect of Ko was found to be indepedent of extracellular Na, except in the 18-20 day hearts bathed in K-free solution. 3. Intracellular concentrations of K and Na were found to decrease, membrane potential to increase with age. The volume/surface area measured by stereologic and morphometric techniques did not change with age. 4. The permeability coefficient for K (PK), calculated from the absolute K flux and the measured membrane potentials, was fairly constant for a given age between 2-5 and 20 mM-Ko. In K-free solution, PK was markedly reduced (factor 4). At a given Ko, PK increased twofold between 6-8 and 18-20 days while PNa remained relatively constant.