Intracellular Cl activity changes of frog skin

The intracellular Cl activity and potential were determined in short-circuited frog skin with single-barrel microelectrodes. With NaCl Ringer solution on the apical and basolateral side, the intracellular Cl activity was 15.5 +/- 0.5 mM and the intracellular potential was -90 +/- 1.0 mV, indicating that the intracellular Cl activity was above electrochemical equilibrium. When the solution on the apical side was changed to a Cl-free solution (Cl replaced by methanesulfonate), no significant difference was observed in intracellular Cl activity. However, when the skins were Cl-depleted by replacing the NaCl Ringer solution on both sides with a Cl-free solution, the intracellular Cl activity decreased to 1.7 +/- 0.1 mM and the intracellular potential fell to -66.7 +/- 1.3 mV. Addition of Cl (i.e., NaCl Ringer solution) to the apical side of Cl-depleted skins caused a significant increase in intracellular Cl activity to 6.3 mM. This increase was prevented by amiloride (10(-4) M) added on the apical side simult...