Ultracytochemical localization of ouabain-sensitive, potassium-dependent p-nitrophenylphosphatase activity in the lacrimal gland of the rat.

The electron-microscopic localization of ouabain-sensitive, K-dependent p-nitrophenylphosphatase (K-NPPase) activity of the Na - K-ATPase complex was studied in the exorbital lacrimal gland of the untreated rat with the use of a newly developed one-step lead-citrate method (Mayahara and Ogawa 1980; Mayahara et al. 1980). In the rat lacrimal gland fixed for 15 min in a mixture of 2% paraformaldehyde and 0.25% glutaraldehyde, an electron-dense reaction product was observed on the plasma membrane of the basal infoldings and the lateral interdigitations of the ductal cells. The most intense reaction product - and thus the major site of the Na - K-ATPase activity - was evident on the basolateral membranes of the cells of the large interlobular ducts; a weak reaction was seen on the basolateral, extensively folded plasma membranes of the small intercalated ducts; no reaction product was observed on the plasma membranes of the acinar cells. Addition of 1) 10 mM ouabain, 2) p-chloromercuri-phenyl-sulfonic acid (PCMB-S), 3) elimination of K-ions from the incubation medium, or 4) preheating abolished completely the K-NPPase reaction. The activity was also substrate-dependent. Mg-ATPase-activity was observed not only in the basolateral membranes of all ductal cells but also in the basal part of the acinar cells and on the walls of blood vessels. This reaction was neither inhibited by ouabain nor activated by K-ions. The precipitate of the Mg-ATPase-activity was localized at the extracellular side of the plasma membrane, whereas the K-NPPase-reaction product was restricted to the cytoplasmic side of the plasmalemma. In contrast, non-specific alkaline-phosphatase (ALPase) activity was missing in cells of the large interlobular ducts, but obvious on the apical plasmalemma of cells lining the small intercalated ducts. With respect to its localization and reactivity pattern the activity of the K-NPPase (member of the Na - K-ATase complex) differs markedly from the Mg-ATPase- and ALPase-activity.