Number of ouabain-binding sites in fibroblasts from normal subjects and patients with cystic fibrosis.

One of the characteristics of cystic fibrosis as autosomal recessive disease, is 
a defect in the net sodium transport in the eccrine glands 
resulting in an increased concentration of sodium in the sweat. Because 
of possible complications in the erythrocytes from CF patients, and since 
the activity observed in a cell homogenate may not express the 
situation in the intact cell, we have looked for differences in 
the binding of 3H-ouabain in cultured normal and CF human diploid 
fibroblasts. We observed no appreciable differences in the number of ouabain-binding 
sites between normal and CF cell strains. We were also unable 
to observe any differences in the kinetics of ouabain-binding between normal 
and CF fibroblasts in K+-free phosphate-buffered saline solution, and the results 
were essentially the same as those seen in HeLa cells. We 
observed no alterations in the kinetics of binding of ouabain nor 
any alteration in the total number of binding sites. 