Characteristics of hydrogen ion transport in urinary bladder of water turtle.

The mechanism of acidification by the urinary bladder of the water turtle was studied in an in vitro system which permitted control and measurement of electrical and concentration driving forces. The rate of hydrogen ion secretion was measured by means of a pH stat technique in the absence of exogenous carbon dioxide and bicarbonate. Transport of hydrogen ion into the solution bathing the mucosal surface of the bladder was associated with the appearance of alkali in the serosal compartment. The mean rate of hydrogen ion secretion in the absence of electrical and concentration gradients across the bladder was 0.96 mumole/hr. The secretion rate was only slightly greater in the presence of the spontaneous potential difference. The maximal hydrogen ion gradient that could be generated by the bladder was 3.33 pH units in the presence of the spontaneous voltage and 3.02 pH units in the short-circuited state. Hydrogen ion secretion was markedly reduced by acetazolamide and anaerobiosis, which indicated that under our experimental conditions acidification depended on the production and enzymatic hydration of metabolic carbon dioxide. On the basis of the stoichiometry of the pH changes across the membrane under different conditions, it is suggested that the active transport mechanism for hydrogen ion is located near the mucosal surface of the epithelial cell and that the alkali generated in back of the pump moves passively into the serosal fluid along an electrochemical gradient.