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1 Department of Physiology, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee 38163;
2 Department of Human Biology and Nutritional Sciences, The University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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| NKCC activity in isosmotic conditions |
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An important question is whether NKCC-mediated transport is actively regulated and, if so, is the regulation independent of Na+-K+-ATPase regulation? The answers to these questions are apparent under conditions that stimulate K+ uptake by muscle. In contrast to the low NKCC activity in muscle under basal conditions [where muscle water and K+ balance are in steady state (5, 7)], NKCC activity is increased by several stimuli of K+ uptake by muscle. Adrenergic receptor activation causes a robust stimulation of total 86Rb uptake in rat muscle under isosmotic conditions, and NKCC activation accounts for up to one-third of the total stimulated 86Rb transport (7). Muscle contraction produced by either in vitro electrical stimulation or treadmill running also stimulates total 86Rb uptake and NKCC activity independent of cellular shrinkage (3). It is of note that NKCC inhibition by bumetanide does not change muscle cell volume when NKCC activity is stimulated by the ß-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol or by the adenylyl cyclase activator forskolin (3), indicating that NKCC activity does not result in a net transport of solute under isosmotic conditions. Although insulin stimulates Na+-K+-ATPase activity in skeletal muscle (2), insulin in fact inhibits NKCC activity (4). Therefore, although Na+-K+-ATPase activity provides the necessary driving force for NKCC-mediated transport, there is independent regulation of the activity of these two transport processes. A summary scheme of possible interactions between the NKCC and the Na+-K+-ATPase is shown in Fig. 1
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The mechanism for NKCC regulation under isosmotic conditions requires the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) arm of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. Blockade of the ERK MAPK pathway abolishes isoproterenol-, phenylephrine-, and contraction-stimulated NKCC activity (4, 5). However, ERK MAPK pathway activation by the NKCC stimuli is complex, showing apparent compartmentalization and muscle fiber phenotype-specific features. Evidence for compartmentalization comes from experiments in which muscle is stimulated with insulin. Insulin stimulates Na+-K+-ATPase activity and the ERK MAPK pathway but does not stimulate NKCC activity (4). Moreover, insulin inhibits NKCC activity by stimulating phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt and p38 MAPK pathways that, in turn, apparently inhibit a specific ERK MAPK pathway necessary for NKCC stimulation (4). The importance of the ERK MAPK pathway as an "integrating point" for NKCC regulatory signals is emphasized by fiber phenotype differences in signaling. In slow-twitch fibers, but not fast-twitch fibers, pertussis toxin abrogates isoproterenol-stimulated NKCC activity by allowing activation of Akt and, in turn, inhibition of ERK MAPK pathway (5). Thus different muscle phenotypes contain functionally distinct G protein-coupled signal transduction pathways for NKCC regulation. Also unique to slow-twitch muscle is a p38 MAPK pathway-mediated inhibition of NKCC activity, again through inhibition of the ERK MAPK pathway (5). A summary for known signaling pathways regulating NKCC activity under isosmotic conditions is shown in Fig. 2
. Because slow-twitch fibers have approximately twice the K+ transport activity as fast-twitch fibers (4, 5), phenotype-specific differences have important physiological consequences. For example, individuals that are physically inactive, obese, or have diabetes mellitus exhibit both an increased reliance on fast-twitch muscle fibers and hyperkalemia during periods of activity. Upregulation of NKCC-mediated JinK in exercise-trained rats demonstrates that regular physical activity may help maintain a slow-twitch phenotype that has a greater capacity for K+ buffering.
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| NKCC activity in hyperosmotic conditions |
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20 min (7). These are characteristics of the NKCC in other tissues (13) and indicate that the bumetanide-sensitive JinK and net water uptake can be attributed to cotransporter activity in skeletal muscle also.
Hyperosmotic challenge appears to produce coordinate regulation of NKCC activity and K+ channel conductivity in skeletal muscle. Approximately 30% of total JinK is attributed to passive K+ entry through K+ channels in resting, isotonic muscle (8). However, total JinK does not increase during perfusion of hindlimbs with hypertonic medium despite a doubling of the bumetanide-sensitive component of JinK (Fig. 3
) (7). The lack of increase in JinK is attributed to a simultaneous decrease in passive influx of K+ through K+ channels, such that a transient increase in JinK in response to cell shrinkage becomes apparent when these cation channels are blocked with barium (Fig. 3
). Closure of K+ channels is consistent with the report that hypertonic challenge of muscle has a depolarizing influence that is furosemide sensitive (18). Temporally, these data indicate that hypertonic challenge causes a decrease in cellular volume such that cell shrinkage in turn decreases passive K+ flux into the cells via K+ channels in concert with increases in the NKCC-mediated K+ influx. This makes sense with respect to cell volume regulation because the reduction in passive K+ flux, both into and out of the cells, through K+ channels serves to retain osmolytes within the cells. The transience in Jin K when K+ channels are blocked (Fig. 3
) may result from subsequent deactivation of the NKCC-mediated transport in response to cell volume stabilization that occurs with additional net solute (primarily Na+ and Cl-) and water flux into the cell (7).
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The mechanism(s) for NKCC activation under hyperosmotic conditions is markedly different from isosmotic conditions (3). Inhibition of the ERK MAPK pathway or insulin treatment does not affect hyperosmolarity-stimulated NKCC activity. In addition, insulin has no effect on muscle cell volume, supporting the hypothesis that the distinct roles of the NKCC (K+ uptake vs. volume regulation) use different intracellular signal transduction pathways to activate the NKCC. Paradoxically, whereas isoproterenol and forskolin stimulate NKCC activity in isosmotic conditions, these agents inhibit NKCC activation under hyperosmotic conditions (3). An increase in protein kinase A activity stimulated by these agents can affect the organization of actin cytoskeleton and may affect intracellular translocation or functional characteristics of sarcolemmal proteins. One may speculate that cytoskeletal mechanotransduction events associated with cell shrinkage rapidly activate cotransporter activity (14), increasing Jin K. Lionetto and coworkers (10) have recently implicated cytoskeletal elements together with protein kinase C and myosin light-chain kinase for hyperosmotic activation of NKCC activity in eel intestinal epithelium. Therefore, protein kinase A activity may provide a counterregulatory mechanism to inhibit NKCC activity under appropriate hyperosmotic conditions. Counterregulatory inhibition of muscle NKCC activity under hyperosmotic conditions might be appropriate when preservation of plasma volume and blood pressure must override the preservation of muscle volume.
| Physiological consequences of skeletal muscle NKCC activity |
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Exercise studies provide a good illustration of the integrative nature of skeletal muscles impact on fluid compartments. Within contracting muscle cells, the rapid hydrolysis of phosphocreatine consumes water and results in the production of two osmotically active molecules: creatine and inorganic phosphate. At the same time, hydrolysis of glycogen results in the production of lactate, another osmolyte, and the release of bound water. Contractile activity causes muscle to lose osmotically active K+ and lactate, which accumulate within the interstitial fluid compartment and enter the venous circulation, raising plasma osmolality (Fig. 4
). The classic study of Lundvall and coworkers (11) demonstrates that the increase in plasma osmolality during exercise is due to "the delivery of osmoles from the exercising muscle." Because the net loss of K+ and lactate from muscle approximately balances the net accumulation of lactate within contracting skeletal muscle (9), the increase in intracellular osmolality can be approximated from the increase in intracellular creatine concentration. The study by Lundvall et al. (11) demonstrates that the increase in the volume of active muscle is primarily "caused by osmosis resulting from increased muscle tissue osmolality"; also, capillary hydrostatic pressure plays only a minor role in fluid accumulation of active muscles. The increase in fluid accumulation within active muscle greatly exceeds the fluid loss from the vascular compartment (9), further contributing to the increase in plasma osmolality. Accordingly, fluid from noncontracting tissues moves, primarily by osmotic forces, into the vascular compartment, in part defending vascular volume (Fig. 4
). It can now be appreciated that an increase in NKCC activity within noncontracting muscle would counteract the net loss of water from these cells, preventing excessive cellular dehydration with impairment of force-producing ability (6). When modeled in situ, perfusion of skeletal muscle with hypertonic medium simulating that seen in blood during high-intensity exercise results in a rapid loss of water from muscle, followed within 2 min by a more prolonged increase in net water and solute uptake that is sensitive to NKCC inhibition with bumetanide (7). Activation of the NKCC by contractile activity also would help the contracting muscle accumulate osmolytes and preserve cell volume (3).
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In summary, the skeletal muscle NKCC appears to have multifunctional roles for K+ and water transport. Mechanisms regulating NKCC activity are complex and largely unexplored but depend on muscle phenotype, local conditions, and whole body conditions. The multifunctional roles of the NKCC in skeletal muscle may occur simultaneously within an animal. For example, in humans and other animals, exercise results in a redistribution of water and ions among the tissues in response to rapid and pronounced changes in fluid osmolality, ion concentrations, and capillary hydrostatic pressure. The NKCC in working muscle could act to help restore intracellular K+ concentration and volume, whereas in the nonworking muscle the NKCC would preserve cell volume against hyperosmotic plasma and interstitial fluid. Given the importance of skeletal muscle on whole body K+ and water balance, the coordinated control of NKCC activity to meet multiple cellular demands is of physiological significance.
| Acknowledgments |
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M. I. Lindingers research was supported by grants from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada. D. B. Thomasons research was supported by grants from the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association.
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