CO 2 Permeability of Rat Hepatocytes and Relation of CO 2 Permeability to CO 2 Production

Abstract

Background/Aims: It has been described that cells in culture with very low oxidative metabolism possess a low CO 2 membrane permeability, P CO2 , of ∼ 0.01 cm/s. On the other hand, cardiomyocytes and mitochondria with extremely high rates of O 2 consumption exhibit very high CO 2 membrane permeabilities of 0.1 and 0.3 cm/s, repectively. To ascertain that this represents a systematic relationship, we determine here P CO2 of hepatocytes, which exhibit an intermediate rate of O 2 consumption. Methods: We isolated intact hepatocytes with vitalities of ∼ 70% from rat liver and measured their CO 2 permeability by the previously published mass spectrometric 18 O exchange technique. Results: We find a P CO2 of hepatocytes of 0.03 cm/s in the presence of FC5-208A and verapamil. FC5-208A was necessary to inhibt extracellular carbonic anhydrase, and verapamil was necessary to inhibit intracellular uptake of FC5-208A by the organic cation transporter OCT1 of hepatocytes. Conclusion: Rat hepatocytes with their intermediate rate of oxygen consumption also possess an intermediate CO 2 permeability. From pairs of data for five types of cells/organelles, we find an excellent positive linear correlation between P CO2 and metabolic rate, suggesting an adaptation of P CO2 to the rate of O 2 consumption.