In situ measurements of external pH and optical density oscillations in Dictyostelium discoideum aggregates.

In situ measurements of extracellular pH by means of microelectrodes and in situ measurements of optical density were performed on aggregating cells of Dictyostelium discoideum. Early aggregation stage AX2 cells showed sinusoidal pH oscillations, which could be inhibited by the specific relay inhibitor caffeine, indicating that they were coupled to cAMP oscillations. Sometimes biphasic pH oscillations were found, which can be explained by the superposition of two harmonic pH oscillations. These harmonic oscillations might arise by gating of the cAMP signal; a part of the cells respond to every cAMP signal and another subpopulation to every second cAMP pulse. Late aggregation-stage cells showed complex changes of the extracellular pH, which could be inhibited by caffeine. Optical density measurements of wave propagation in aggregation streams of HG220 also revealed gating behavior. In addition to sinusoidal optical density oscillations, biphasic and still more complex oscillations were observed.