A new Na+ and K+ carrier from chemically modified monensin studied in human erythrocytes by 23Na nuclear magnetic resonance,K+ atomic absorption and H+ potentiometry

The transporting ability of a new monensin derivative 26-(1,2-diphenyl-1-ethoxy) monensin, highly active against Gram-positive bacteria, was explored with the human erythrocyte model using three technical approaches: ²³Na nuclear magnetic resonance (internal Na⁺), K⁺ atomic absorption (external K⁺) and H⁺ potentiometry (external H⁺) and compared with monensin 1 and 26-(4-chlorophenylurethane) monensin 3 of known transport selectivities for sodium and potassium respectively. Compound 2 proved to be a good carrier for both Na⁺ and K⁺ under our experimental conditions, thus constituting a new type of monensin derivative. The introduction of Li⁺, Rb⁺ or Cs⁺ in the external buffer as a replacement for Na⁺ led us to propose the transport sequence K⁺, Na⁺ ⪢ Rb⁺ > Li⁺ > Cs⁺ for 2.