Potassium-stimulated efflux of radiolabeled products formed from L-[14C(U)]-glutamine in vitro by the saccule of the rainbow trout (Salmo gairdnerii R.).
Samples of saccular macula from the rainbow trout were incubated in vitro with uniformly-labeled L-[14C]-glutamine, and radiolabeled products, released by potassium-induced depolarization in the presence of calcium, were examined. Most of the effluxed radioactivity was distributed in six (of 17) thin-layer chromatographic fractions. Fractions corresponding to aspartate and glutamate showed highly significant increases in radioactivity (as percent of total recovered radioactivity) during high-potassium treatment. Radioactivity in a fraction with an RF close to that of ornithine also significantly increased during potassium, and dropped sharply after potassium. The origins of the thin-layer fractions, with respect to sensory and neural elements in the saccular macula samples, are discussed.