Renal tubular differentiation in mouse and mouse metanephric culture. II. Na-K-ATPase activity.

Sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase (Na-K-ATPase) activity was measured by microassay, and the surface density of basolateral membranes was measured morphometrically in postglomerular segments of single tubules isolated from normally developing, intact mouse kidneys and from transfilter metanephric cultures. Proximal tubule Na-K-ATPase activity was 1092 +/- 480 pmol/mm per hour in newborn mice, increasing to 2462 +/- 258 in 1-week-old and 3470 +/- 578 pmol/mm per hour in adult mice. The Na-K-ATPase activity in newborn mice was approximately one-third of the activity in adult mice. Tubular Na-K-ATPase in transfilter metanephric culture was 972 +/- 536 pmol/mm per hour, a mean value almost identical to that in newborn mice. The surface density of basolateral cell membranes was 1.36 +/- 0.60 microns2/microns3 in newborn mice and 1.34 +/- 0.45 microns2/microns3 in 1-week-old mice, increasing to 2.70 +/- 0.98 microns2/microns3 in 4-week-old mice and 2.89 +/- 0.51 microns2/microns3 in adult mice. The surface density of tubular basolateral cell membranes in transfilter metanephric culture was 1.13 +/- 0.51 microns2/microns3, not significantly different from the surface density in newborn mice. The calculated mean surface area of basolateral membranes per unit tubular length was greater in cultures than in newborns, however, because total epithelial volume per unit length was significantly larger in the cultured tubules. Membrane surface area in intact mice increased with age, the surface area per unit length of tubule in adults being 4.6 times the area in newborn animals.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)