Regulation of passive potassium transport of normal and transformed 3T3 mouse cell cultures by external calcium concentration and temperature.

Regulation of passive potassium ion transport by the external calcium concentration and temperature was studied on cell cultures of 3T3 mouse cells and their DNA-virus transformed derivatives. Upon lowering of external calcium concentration, passive potassium efflux generally exhibits a sharp increase at about 0.1 mM. The fraction of calcium-regulated potassium efflux is largely independent of temperature in the cases of the transformed cells, but shows a sharp increase for 3T3 cells upon increasing temperature above 32 degrees C. In the same range of temperature, the 3T3 cells exhibit the phenomenon of high-temperature inactivation of the residual potassium efflux at 1 mM external calcium. At comparable cellular growth densities, the transformed cell lines do not show high-temperature inactivation of "residual" potassium efflux. These results are consistent with the notion of a decisive role of the internal K+ concentration in the cell-density dependent regulation of cell proliferation. In particular, the growth-inhibiting effect of lowering the external Ca2+ concentrations is considered as largely due to a rise of passive K+ efflux and a subsequent decrease of internal K+ concentration. The experimental data on the Ca2+ dependence of passive K+ flux are quantitatively described by a theoretical model based on the constant field relations including negative surface charges on the external face of the membrane, which cooperatively bind Ca2+ ions and may concomitantly undergo a lateral redistribution. The present evidence is consistent with acidic phospholipids as representing these negative surface charges.