The metabolism-dependent maintenance of cell volume and ultrastructure in slices of Morris hepatoma 3924A.

The changes in water and electrolyte content of slices of Morris hepatoma 3924A induced by various conditions of incubation have been compared with the ultrastructural appearance of the tissue. Incubation at 1 degrees led to an increase of water, Na+, and Cl- content and to a loss of K+. There was simultaneous increase in size of the cells and intercellular spaces, loss of junctional complexes, increase in the number of microvilli, and fragmentation and dilation of the cytocavitary network. Subsequent incubation at 38 degrees in oxygenated medium led to a substantial reversal of all of these changes of composition and structure, which was well advanced within 10 min and largely complete by 60 min. The presence of 20 mM glucose in the medium somewhat enhanced the degree of recovery. A reduction of cell volume and intercellular spaces was evident both from the electron microscopic observations and measurements of the volume of inulin distribution. The presence of ouabain inhibited the net accumulation of K+ and much of the Na+ extrusion, but permitted about 50% of the net extrusion of water (accompanied by Na+ and Cl-) and had little effect on the ultrastructural recovery. The presence of glucose increased the resistance of volume and structural recovery of ouabain without releasing the inhibition of K+ accumulation. A marked feature of the recovering tissues was the Golgi apparatus, which assumed an appearance suggestive of increased activity when water extrusion was active. In slices using only endogenous substrate, cyanide and (to a lesser extent) oligomycin greatly inhibited the recovery of volume and structure. The presence of glucose permitted some recovery in the presence of cyanide. The control of cell volume in hepatoma 3924A appears to involve two separate components of water transport, one of which is sensitive, and one insensitive to ouabain. The ouabain-insensitive component appears to be especially related to the recovery of cell ultrastructure after incubation at 1 degrees, to be more sensitive to paucity of adenosine 5'-triphosphate, and to proceed by secretion of water, Na+, and Cl- into vesicles that fuse with the Golgi apparatus. This mechanism may be related to that for bile secretion in normal liver. The ouabain-sensitive component of water transport is a function of the mechanism for the coupled transport of Na+ and K+.