Deciphering the mechanisms of intestinal imino (and amino) acid transport: The redemption of SLC36A1

H+-coupled nutrient, micronutrient and drug transporters in the mammalian small intestine

The H(+)-electrochemical gradient was originally considered as a driving force for solute transport only across cellular membranes of bacteria, plants and yeast. However, in the mammalian small intestine, a H(+)-electrochemical gradient is present at the epithelial brush-border membrane in the form of an acid microclimate. Over recent years, a large number of H(+)-coupled cotransport mechanisms have been identified at the luminal membrane of the mammalian small intestine. These transporters are responsible for the initial stage in absorption of a remarkable variety of essential and non-essential nutrients and micronutrients, including protein digestion products (di/tripeptides and amino acids), vitamins, short-chain fatty acids and divalent metal ions. Proton-coupled cotransporters expressed at the mammalian small intestinal brush-border membrane include: the di/tripeptide transporter PepT1 (SLC15A1); the proton-coupled amino-acid transporter PAT1 (SLC36A1); the divalent metal transporter DMT1 (SLC11A2); the organic anion transporting polypeptide OATP2B1 (SLC02B1); the monocarboxylate transporter MCT1 (SLC16A1); the proton-coupled folate transporter PCFT (SLC46A1); the sodium-glucose linked cotransporter SGLT1 (SLC5A1); and the excitatory amino acid carrier EAAC1 (SLC1A1). Emerging research demonstrates that the optimal intestinal absorptive capacity of certain H(+)-coupled cotransporters (PepT1 and PAT1) is dependent upon function of the brush-border Na(+)-H(+) exchanger NHE3 (SLC9A3). The high oral bioavailability of a large number of pharmaceutical compounds results, in part, from absorptive transport via the same H(+)-coupled cotransporters. Drugs undergoing H(+)-coupled cotransport across the intestinal brush-border membrane include those used to treat bacterial infections, hypercholesterolaemia, hypertension, hyperglycaemia, viral infections, allergies, epilepsy, schizophrenia, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer.

Regulation of intestinal hPepT1 (SLC15A1) activity by phosphodiesterase inhibitors is via inhibition of NHE3 (SLC9A3)

The H⁺-coupled transporter hPepT1 (SLC15A1) mediates the transport of di/tripeptides and many orally-active drugs across the brush-border membrane of the small intestinal epithelium. Incubation of Caco-2 cell monolayers (15 min) with the dietary phosphodiesterase inhibitors caffeine and theophylline inhibited Gly–Sar uptake across the apical membrane. Pentoxifylline, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor given orally to treat intermittent claudication, also decreased Gly–Sar uptake through a reduction in capacity (V_max) without any effect on affinity (K_m). The reduction in dipeptide transport was dependent upon both extracellular Na⁺ and apical pH but was not observed in the presence of the selective Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger NHE3 (SLC9A3) inhibitor S1611. Measurement of intracellular pH confirmed that caffeine was not directly inhibiting hPepT1 but rather having an indirect effect through inhibition of NHE3 activity. NHE3 maintains the H⁺-electrochemical gradient which, in turn, acts as the driving force for H⁺-coupled solute transport. Uptake of β-alanine, a substrate for the H⁺-coupled amino acid transporter hPAT1 (SLC36A1), was also inhibited by caffeine. The regulation of NHE3 by non-nutrient components of diet or orally-delivered drugs may alter the function of any solute carrier dependent upon the H⁺-electrochemical gradient and may, therefore, be a site for both nutrient–drug and drug–drug interactions in the small intestine.