18O Exchange in Suspensions of Red Blood Cells: Determination of Parameters of Mass Spectrometer Inlet System

Abstract

A membrane inlet system to a mass spectrometer (MIMS) allows us to monitor the abundance of 18O in CO2 during the exchange of 18O between HCO3 −, dissolved CO2 and H2O that occurs after dissolving 18O-labelled NaHCO3 in aqueous solution. Using a mathematical model we quantitate intracellular carbonic anhydrase activity and membrane permeabilities for HCO3 −, CO2 and H2O of isolated cells or intact epithelia added to the solution. For these calculations it was necessary to determine (a) the relation between MS signal and [C18O16O], (b) MIMS response kinetics and (c) CO2 leakage during the experiment. The three parameters were determined by stepwise addition of HCl to HCO3 − solution: (a) was found to be linear, (b) response times were 7.5±2s (10°C), 4.5±1s (20°C), 3.5±0.6s (37°C), and (c) CO2 leakage was < 1‰ s−1.