Expression of cardiac sarcolemmal Na+-Ca2+ exchange activity in Xenopus laevis oocytes.

Injection of Xenopus laevis oocytes with rabbit heart poly(A)+RNA results in expression of Na+ inside (Nai+)-dependent Ca2+ uptake activity. The activity was measured by first loading the oocytes with Na+ using nystatin and then incubating the oocytes in K+ or Na+ medium containing 45Ca. The expressed Na+ gradient-dependent Ca2+ uptake was five to eight times that observed with water-injected oocytes or with poly(A)+RNA-injected oocytes for which the Na+ load step had been omitted. Induced activity was related to the amount of RNA injected and was insensitive to nifedipine. Fractionation of the poly(A)+RNA on a sucrose gradient determined that the active message had a size range between 3 and 5 kb. The properties of the Na+ gradient-dependent Ca2+ uptake indicated that Na+-Ca2+ exchange activity had been expressed in X. laevis oocytes. The result may be useful for cloning and identifying the molecular component responsible for Na+-Ca2+ exchange.