Experimental verification of a multicompartment Na+ -flow model of frog skin epidermis.

A re-investigation was undertaken to consider the rates of transepidermal Na⁺-influx and Na⁺-backflux in the undamaged, isolated normal and Ouabain poisoned skins of Rana pipiens. The experimentally obtained rate values agreed with predictions derived from a computer model of skin epidermis. Both laboratory results and data computed by the use of a multicompartment epidermis model led to the conclusion that Ouabain greatly affects the flow of Na⁺ via the cellular, and not via the extracellular pathways. This study is presented to demonstrate the usefulness of the computer simulation technique in the analysis of the kinetics of flow of material across an epithelial membrane of considerable anatomical complexity.