The relation of membrane transport of alkali cations to their external concentrations or to their cellular contents was studied in HeLa cells. Chilling the cells at 0°C reversed cell Na
+ and K
+ to a mirror image of the normal pattern. Upon rewarming to 37°C the ouabainsensitive Rb
+ uptake became 2-fold faster than the control. A kinetic analysis revealed that the stimulation was due to an increase in the maximal rate of Rb
+ uptake, J
max. The increase in apparent K
m was relatively small. The analysis also showed that the ouabain-sensitive cation transport system seemed to have two binding sites for Rb
+. The stimulation of Rb
+ uptake was related to an increase in cell Nat, and an addition of ouabain abolished such a relation. Net Na
+ flux which was in the direction from inside the cells to the medium at hypernormal cell Na
+ was increased when cell Na
+ increased. In contrast, net Nat flux which was in the opposite direction in the presence of ouabain was reduced and became almost 0 at cell Na
+ of 900 nmol/mg of protein. The Na
+/Rb
+ coupling ratio in the ouabain-sensitive cation transport was apparently less than 1 at nearly physiological cell Nat, but it approached 1.5 when cell Na
+ was sufficiently high. The sum of cell K
+ plus Rb
+ varied inversely with cell Nat, and this relation was unaffected upon treatment with ouabain. When Rb
+ uptake declined below 80 of the control, cell K
+ plus Rb
+ was reduced, however, 40 % of the sum of cell cations was still preserved even after complete inhibition of the cation pumps by ouabain treatment for 2 hr. Interrelations of these results are discussed.
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