Influence of Cl- on pH(i) in oxynticopeptic cells of in vitro frog gastric mucosa.

The effect of Cl- on intracellular pH (pH(i)) was studied using sheets of frog (Rana catesbeiana) fundic mucosa in which oxynticopeptic cells were selectively loaded with the acetomethoxy ester form of the pH-sensitive fluorescent dye 2',7'-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF/AM). Before the measurement of pH(i), tissues were exposed to either 10(-5) M forskolin in the serosal solution (stimulated tissues) or 3 x 10(-4) omeprazole in the serosal solution (inhibited tissues). In HCO3- and N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N'-2-ethanesulfonic acid (HEPES) buffers, pH(i) increased significantly after removal of Cl- from serosal and luminal solution, both in stimulated and inhibited tissues. The presence of Cl- in the luminal solution prevented this rise in pHi, an effect abolished by serosal 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS, 3 x 10(-4) M) but not by serosal amiloride (10(-3)M). In the presence of serosal Cl-, pH(i) increased after exposure to serosal DIDS, more prominently in the stimulated than in the inhibited tissues. These results confirm the presence of a Cl(-)-HCO3-exchanger in the basolateral membrane of oxynticopeptic cells in intact sheets of mucosa and suggest that luminal Cl- contributes to the regulation of pH(i) in oxynticopeptic cells.