K+ reabsorption by the lower Malpighian tubule of Rhodnius prolixus: inhibition by Ba2+ and blockers of H+/K+-ATPases

Active K+ reabsorption by the lower Malpighian tubule of the blood-feeding hemipteran Rhodnius prolixus does not involve the amiloride-sensitive K+/H+ exchangers or V-type H+-ATPases implicated in secretion of ions from haemolymph to lumen in the upper tubule. Amiloride, N-ethylmaleimide, 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazol and bafilomycin A1 inhibit haemolymph-to-lumen secretion of Na+ and K+ by the upper Malpighian tubule, but have little or no effect on lumen-to-haemolymph reabsorption of K+ by the lower tubule. The effects of inhibitors of H+/K+-ATPases, including omeprazole and SCH 28080, suggest that a pump similar to the H+/K+-ATPase of the gastric mucosa is involved in KCl reabsorption. The presence of K+ channels in the basolateral membrane in the lower Malpighian tubule is suggested by inhibition of KCl reabsorption by basolateral but not apical application of the K+ channel blocker Ba2+, and by blockade of K+-dependent changes in membrane potential by Ba2+. It is proposed, therefore, that K+ is pumped from lumen to cell by an ATP-dependent pump resembling the H+/K+-ATPase of the gastric mucosa, and that K+ leaks from cell to bathing saline (haemolymph) via an electrodiffusive pathway (i.e. K+ channels).