Regulation of pH in rat papillary tubule cells in primary culture.

To investigate the mechanisms responsible for urinary acidification in the terminal nephron, primary cultures of cells isolated from the renal papilla were grown as monolayers in a defined medium. Morphologically, cultured cells were epithelial in type, and similar to collecting duct principal cells. Cell pH measured fluorometrically in monolayers grown on glass slides showed recovery from acid loads in Na+-free media. Recovery was inhibited by cyanide, oligomycin A, and N-ethylmaleimide. Cyanide and oligomycin inhibited recovery less in the presence than in the absence of glucose. When cells were first acid loaded in a Na+-free medium and then exposed to external Na+, pH recovery also took place. This recovery exhibited first-order dependence on Na+ concentration and was inhibited by 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl)amiloride. These studies demonstrate that in culture, collecting duct principal cells possess at least two mechanisms for acid extrusion: a proton ATP-ase and an Na+-H+ exchanger. The former may be responsible for some component of the urinary acidification observed in the papillary collecting duct in vivo; the role of the latter in acid-base transport remains uncertain.