Measurement of intracellular pH of skeletal muscle with pH-sensitive glass microelectrodes.

We used three methods to examine the relationship among intracellular pH, transmembrane potential, and extracellular pH. Single-barreled electrodes permitted the determination of resting potential and intracellular pH with a minimum of cellular injury. Double-barreled electrodes, which incorporated a reference as well as a pH-sensitive electrode in a single tip, facilitated the direct measurement of intracellular pH without the interposition of the transmembrane potential. Triple-barreled electrodes permitted measurement of intracellular pH during the controlled hyperpolarization or depolarization of the cell membrane. The results of all three methods were in close agreement and disclosed that the H(+) activity of intracellular and extracellular fluid is in electrochemical equilibrium at any given transmembrane potential. This implies that the determinants of intracellular pH are the transmembrane potential and the blood pH. The actual pH of the normal resting muscle cell is 5.99, as estimated from the normal transmembrane potential and blood pH, or as determined by direct measurements of intracellular pH.