The effect of tanning agents on the permeability of the toad bladder to water and solutes

Summary

Previous studies with phloretin have shown that the movement of urea and other solutes across the toad bladder can be inhitited with no effect on osmotic water flow, active sodium transport, or the movement of ethanol and ethylene glycol. These findings have suggested that a vasopressin-sensitive carrier is involved in the transport of solutes such as urea across the luminal membrane of the epithelial cell. The present paper describes the effect of two agents other than phloretin: tannic acid and chromate, on water and solute movement across the bladder. The pattern of action of these two agents resembles that of phloretin, and supports our earlier findings of the independence of solute and water movement. The effect of chromate on urea movement is seen only in the presence of vasopressin, and only if chromate is added prior to vasopressin. Chromate also proves to be an irreversible inhibitor of urea movement. The implications of these findings are discussed. In view of the known interactions of both agents with proteins, it is suggested that carrier-mediated transport of urea proceeds across a protein component of the membrane.