Changes in Na+/K+-ATPase expression during adaptive cell differentiation in avian nasal salt gland

Chronic salt stress in ducklings (Anas platyrhynchos) resulted in a sustained accumulation of cyclic AMP in the secretory cells of the nasal salt glands. Adaptive increases in the activity of the Na+/K+-ATPase, measured as ATP hydrolysis rates in freshly isolated tissue, were observed after 12 h of salt stress. This change in enzyme activity was associated with increases in protein abundance in the - as well as in the ss-subunit of Na+/K+-ATPase and an increase in ss-subunit glycosylation. We investigated whether the increase in the cytosolic cyclic AMP concentration and the adaptive changes in Na+/K+-ATPase activity were causally related. Using an organotypic tissue culture system for salt gland slices from unstressed (naive) ducklings, we produced similar changes in Na+/K+-ATPase activity and subunit abundance by treating cultured tissue with drugs that elevate cytosolic cyclic AMP levels (forskolin, 8-CPT-cAMP) during a 15 h culture period. Protein synthesis assays using cultured tissue revealed that elevations in cytosolic cyclic AMP level mediate increases in Na+/K+-ATPase subunit abundance by slowing down the degradation of ATPase subunits. This increase in the amount of enzyme protein was associated with a significant increase in Na+/K+-ATPase activity in tissue homogenates. The time course of these changes in cyclic-AMP-treated cultured tissue resembled that observed in salt-stressed intact animals, indicating that the elevation in cyclic AMP level in salt gland tissue may constitute a portion of the signalling events ultimately leading to the adaptive increase in Na+/K+-ATPase activity in vivo.