Transmembrane electrical potential difference regulates Na+/HCO3- cotransport and intracellular pH in hepatocytes.

We have examined the hypothesis that a regulatory interplay between pH-regulated plasma membrane K+ conductance (gK+) and electrogenic Na+/HCO3- cotransport contributes importantly to regulation of intracellular pH (pHi) in hepatocytes. In individual cells, membrane depolarization produced by transient exposure to 50 mM K+ caused a reversible increase in pHi in the presence, but not absence, of HCO3-, consistent with voltage-dependent HCO3- influx. In the absence of HCO3-, intracellular alkalinization and acidification produced by NH4Cl exposure and withdrawal produced membrane hyperpolarization and depolarization, respectively, as expected for pHi-induced changes in gK+. By contrast, in the presence of HCO3-, NH4Cl exposure and withdrawal produced a decrease in apparent buffering capacity and changes in membrane potential difference consistent with compensatory regulation of electrogenic Na+/HCO3- cotransport. Moreover, the rate of pHi and potential difference recovery was several-fold greater in the presence as compared with the absence of HCO3-. Finally, continuous exposure to 10% CO2 in the presence of HCO3- produced intracellular acidification, and the rate of pHi recovery from intracellular acidosis was inhibited by Ba2+, which blocks pHi-induced changes in gK+, and by 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid, which inhibits Na+/HCO3- cotransport. These findings suggest that in hepatocytes, changes in transmembrane electrical potential difference, mediated by pH-sensitive gK+, play a central role in regulation of pHi through effects on electrogenic Na+/HCO3- cotransport.