Inhibiting cardiac Na pump activity decreases the driving force for the Na/Ca exchanger transport that increases cellular Ca stores and contractility. Decreased abundance of Na pumps would be expected to have the same effect as decreased activity unless there was reciprocal regulation of Na/Ca exchanger expression to oppose the effects of depressed Na pump activity on intracellular Ca stores. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that cardiac Na/Ca exchanger abundance is regulated in a reciprocal fashion to Na-K-ATPase abundance in a number of models known to have altered Na-K-ATPase abundance. In renovascular hypertension, cardiac ventricular Na-K-ATPase alpha 1-levels are unaltered, alpha 2-isoform subunit mRNA and protein levels decrease to 0.76 +/- 0.06 and 0.56 +/- 0.07 of control, respectively, and the Na/Ca exchanger protein (not mRNA) increased 1.35 +/- 0.11-fold. In the transition from hypothyroid to hyperthyroid cardiac alpha 1 doubles, alpha 2-protein increases 8.83 +/- 1.06-fold, and the Na/Ca exchanger protein decreases to 0.64 +/- 0.11. A similar pattern was seen during cardiac development in the preweaning rat heart. Treatment with the antiarrhythymic amiodarone has no effect on alpha 1, decreases alpha 2-protein expression to 0.51 +/- 0.08 of control, and increases exchanger expression 1.42 +/- 0.16-fold. In conclusion, the reciprocal regulation of the Na/Ca exchanger and of Na-K-ATPase alpha 2-expression provides evidence for a homeostatic mechanism that would oppose the changes in cellular Ca stores driven by the changes in Na-K-ATPase activity.

Na+ crosses the luminal membrane of the proximal tubule primarily via Na+/H+ exchange (NHE), and NHE activity is influenced by thyroid status. Pharmacological, immunological, and kinetic studies indicate multiple isoforms of NHE, and four full-length cDNAs have been cloned to date. The aims of this study were to determine which NHE mRNAs (NHE1, -2, -3, and -4) were expressed in the rat proximal tubule, the relative abundance of each in the renal cortex, and the effect of thyroid status on their expression. By blot hybridization of poly(A)+ RNA, all NHE isoform mRNAs were detected in the rat renal cortex; NHE1, -2, and -3 in the proximal tubule; and NHE1 and -3 in LLC-PK1 cells. NHE3 mRNA abundance was fourfold higher than the other three isoforms in renal cortex. The effect of thyroid status was assessed in renal cortex from euthyroid, hypothyroid, and hyperthyroid rats. Although none of the NHE mRNA levels was altered in the transition from euthyroid to hypothyroid states, both NHE2 and NHE3 mRNA levels increased 1.5-fold in the transition from hypo- to hyperthyroidism. NHE3 protein, measured by immunoblot with the use of an NHE3-specific antibody, was detected at 83-85 kDa in renal cortex and codistributed on sorbitol gradients with the brush-border marker alkaline phosphatase. No significant difference in NHE3 protein abundance was detected between hypothyroid and hyperthyroid rats. In conclusion, in the renal cortex, the NHE3 isoform predominates at the mRNA level, is expressed in apical membranes, and increases at the mRNA but not the protein levels in response to thyroid hormone treatment, suggesting parallel changes in synthesis and turnover of NHE3 by thyroid hormone.

The purpose of this study was to determine the pattern of thyroid hormone (triiodothyronine, T3) regulation of the Na(+)-K(+)-adenosinetriphosphatase (Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase) alpha- and beta-subunit expression in skeletal muscle, which expresses alpha 1-, alpha 2-, beta 1-, and beta 2-subunits, and compare it with that seen in kidney, which expresses only alpha 1 and beta 1. Three steady states were studied: hypothyroid, euthyroid, and hyperthyroid (hypothyroids injected daily with 1 microgram T3/g body wt for 2-16 days). Protein and mRNA abundance, determined by Western and Northern analysis, were normalized to a constant amount of homogenate protein and total RNA, respectively. In skeletal muscle, there was no change in alpha 1- or beta 1-mRNA or protein levels in the transition from hypothyroid to hyperthyroid. However, alpha 2 was highly regulated; mRNA reached a new steady-state level of fivefold over hypothyroid by 8 days of T3 treatment and protein abundance increased threefold. In addition, beta 2-mRNA and protein were detected in skeletal muscle and were also highly regulated by T3; beta 2-mRNA increased nearly fourfold over hypothyroid level, and beta 2-protein abundance increased over twofold. In kidney in the transition from hypothyroid to hyperthyroid, there were coordinate 1.6-fold increases in both alpha 1- and beta 1-mRNA abundance that predicted the observed changes in alpha 1- and beta 1-protein levels and Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

K+ deficiency has been linked to a loss of K+ from muscle associated with a decrease in ouabain binding and K(+)-dependent phosphatase activity. This study aimed to quantitate the Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase alpha- and beta-isoform-specific responses to hypokalemia in vivo in heart, skeletal muscle, and brain at pre- and posttranslational levels. Two-week dietary K+ restriction resulted in decreases in alpha 2-mRNA in heart and skeletal muscle to 0.60 and 0.65, and in alpha 2-protein abundance to 0.38 and 0.18 of control, respectively. The decrease in alpha 2-protein was greater than the decrease in mRNA in both tissues, suggesting translational and/or posttranslational mechanism(s) of regulation as well as pretranslational regulation in response to hypokalemia. K(+)-dependent p-nitrophenyl phosphatase (pNPPase) activity decreased in heart and skeletal muscle to 0.67 and 0.58, respectively. There were no changes in alpha 1-. or beta-mRNA or protein levels in skeletal muscle or heart. In brain, there was a similar pattern of regulation. While brain alpha 2-mRNA did not change in hypokalemia, protein levels decreased to 0.72 of control. In conclusion, hypokalemia is associated with a large decrease in expression of the alpha 2-isoform of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase. These results support the hypothesis that in skeletal and heart muscle hypokalemia induces a decrease in Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity (measured as K(+)-dependent pNPPase activity) by specifically decreasing the expression of the alpha 2-isoform of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

In this study, we measured the time courses of change in Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase alpha 1-, alpha 2-, and beta 1-subunit mRNA and protein abundance in cardiac myocytes isolated from euthyroid, hypothyroid, and hyperthyroid (hypothyroids injected daily with 1 microgram T3/g body wt) rats. In hypothyroids, alpha 1-, alpha 2-, and beta 1-protein levels were decreased to 0.55, 0.42, and 0.57 of euthyroids, predicting the decrease in Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity to 0.53 of control. There was no change in these subunits' mRNA levels, indicating that the decreases in protein levels were not due to decreased subunit transcription rates. In hyperthyroids, the alpha 1-mRNA increased to a steady state of threefold over hypothyroid by 1 day of T3 treatment, and the alpha 1-protein levels increased to twofold over hypothyroid by 4 days of T3. alpha 2-mRNA increased to 5-fold over hypothyroid by 2 days, whereas the alpha 2-protein levels increased to 14-fold above hypothyroid by 4 days of T3. Beta 1-mRNA increased to 12-fold above hypothyroid by 1 day of T3 treatment, whereas beta 1-protein increased to only 2.5-fold over hypothyroid by 4 days of T3. The discoordinate changes in alpha 2- and beta 1-mRNA vs. protein can be reconciled with the hypothesis that beta 1 is rate limiting for assembly in eu- and hypothyroids, and favors assembly with alpha 1, while excess unassembled alpha 2 is degraded. In the hyperthyroids we predict beta 1 is not rate limiting and there is increased alpha 2 beta 1-assembly. We calculate that T3 decreases the alpha 1-to-alpha 2 ratio from 24:1 in hypothyroid to 3.4:1 in hyperthyroid cardiomyocytes.