Potassium release from the rat submaxillary gland in vitro. I. Induction by catecholamines.

Slices of submaxillary gland were incubated in vitro in an enriched Krebs-Ringer-bicarbonate medium gassed with 95% O2-5% CO2 at 37 degrees C and the release of K+ into the medium was monitored after stimulation with alpha and beta adrenergic secretagogues under a variety of experimental conditions. K+ was released by the slice system after addition of norepinephrine, epinephrine or phenylephrine, but not after addition of isoproterenol. The extent of K+ release after norepinephrine depends on the dose of secretagogue and is higher when glucose, adenine and inosine, or all three substrates are absent from the medium. The effect of norepinephrine on K+ release is reversed by phentolamine but not by propranolol. Phentolamine also causes a 9.4-fold shift to the right in the dose-response curve to norepinephrine. Addition of ouabain to the incubation medium results in a higher extent of K+ release and prevents the reversal caused by phentolamine. The response to norepinephrine fails to occur when Ca++ is absent from the medium, either by chelation with ethylene glycol bis (beta-amino-ethyl ether)-N,N'-tetraacetic acid or by elimination from the Krebs-Ringer solution, and shows gradations depending on the Ca++ content of the medium. By itself, however, Ca++ does not induce K+ release from the slice system. The following conclusions are derived from these observations: 1) the release of K+ ions from the submaxillary gland is mediated by alpha adrenergic receptors; 2) the net amount of K+ released is the result of two opposing and almost simultaneous mechanisms, a passive extrusion and an active reuptake; 3) the active reuptake of K+ depends on the availability of energy and is mediated through the ouabain-sensitive Na+-K+ activated adenosine triphosphatase; 4) the reaction is critically dependent on the presence of Ca++ in the incubation medium and probably involves an influx of Ca++ upon stimulation with alpha adrenergic secretagogues.