Effect of osmotic shocks on rabbit kidney cortex slices.

Rabbit kidney cortex slices behave an osmometers when withstanding hyperosmotic or hyposmotic shocks of amplitude up to pi 1/pi 2 = 1.25. For hyposmotic shocks of amplitude larger than or equal to pi 1/pi 2 = 1.50, the maximum swelling achieved is less than what can be expected on the basis of the van't Hoff relation, thereby indicating that a volume regulation process is taking place. Volume regulation in kidney slices can be dissociated into two distinct phases. The first one, of swelling limitation, is very rapid and keeps maximum cell volume at values lower than expected when the tissue is considered as an osmometer. This phase is followed by a slow volume readjustment process during which volume progressively decreases towards control values. The major intracellular osmotic effector loss during both swelling limitation and volume readjustment is Na+. The overall volume regulation process is insensitive to furosemide, vanadate, and bumetanide. Swelling limitation is blocked by addition of ouabain. Contrary to what has been believed previously, there is, however, no need to implicate control of the activity of a ouabain-sensitive, Na+/K+ pump in the Na-dependent volume regulation mechanism.