Bicarbonate and chloride transport across rat ileal basolateral membrane

Regulation of K-Cl cotransport: from function to genes

This review intends to summarize the vast literature on K-Cl cotransport (COT) regulation from a functional and genetic viewpoint. Special attention has been given to the signaling pathways involved in the transporter's regulation found in several tissues and cell types, and more specifically, in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). The number of publications on K-Cl COT has been steadily increasing since its discovery at the beginning of the 1980s, with red blood cells (RBCs) from different species (human, sheep, dog, rabbit, guinea pig, turkey, duck, frog, rat, mouse, fish, and lamprey) being the most studied model. Other tissues/cell types under study are brain, kidney, epithelia, muscle/smooth muscle, tumor cells, heart, liver, insect cells, endothelial cells, bone, platelets, thymocytes and Leishmania donovani. One of the salient properties of K-Cl-COT is its activation by cell swelling and its participation in the recovery of cell volume, a process known as regulatory volume decrease (RVD). Activation by thiol modification with N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) has spawned investigations on the redox dependence of K-Cl COT, and is used as a positive control for the operation of the system in many tissues and cells. The most accepted model of K-Cl COT regulation proposes protein kinases and phosphatases linked in a chain of phosphorylation/dephosphorylation events. More recent studies include regulatory pathways involving the phosphatidyl inositol/protein kinase C (PKC)-mediated pathway for regulation by lithium (Li) in low-K sheep red blood cells (LK SRBCs), and the nitric oxide (NO)/cGMP/protein kinase G (PKG) pathway as well as the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-mediated mechanism in VSMCs. Studies on VSM transfected cells containing the PKG catalytic domain demonstrated the participation of this enzyme in K-Cl COT regulation. Commonly used vasodilators activate K-Cl COT in a dose-dependent manner through the NO/cGMP/PKG pathway. Interaction between the cotransporter and the cytoskeleton appears to depend on the cellular origin and experimental conditions. Pathophysiologically, K-Cl COT is altered in sickle cell anemia and neuropathies, and it has also been proposed to play a role in blood pressure control. Four closely related human genes code for KCCs (KCC1-4). Although considerable information is accumulating on tissue distribution, function and pathologies associated with the different isoforms, little is known about the genetic regulation of the KCC genes in terms of transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation. A few reports indicate that the NO/cGMP/PKG signaling pathway regulates KCC1 and KCC3 mRNA expression in VSMCs at the post-transcriptional level. However, the detailed mechanisms of post-transcriptional regulation of KCC genes and of regulation of KCC2 and KCC4 mRNA expression are unknown. The K-Cl COT field is expected to expand further over the next decades, as new isoforms and/or regulatory pathways are discovered and its implication in health and disease is revealed.

Regulation of intracellular pH during H+-coupled oligopeptide absorption in enterocytes from guinea-pig ileum

1. The mechanisms for regulating the intracellular pH (pHi) level during oligopeptide absorption were investigated in the enterocytes from guinea-pig ileum by identifying the acid-base transporters responsible for extruding H+ that enters the cell through the H+-oligopeptide cotransporter. 2. The pHi level was measured by microfluorometry in an isolated villus tip loaded with the pH-sensitive fluoroprobe 2'7'-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF). The oligopeptide-induced increment in the short-circuit current (Isc) was determined in a mucosal sheet in Ussing chambers. A CO2/HCO3--buffered solution was used. 3. The superfusion of glycylglycine (Gly-Gly, l0 mM) caused a decrease in pHi level, which returned to the basal level after removing Gly-Gly. This pHi recovery was strongly dependent on extracellular Na+. Amiloride partially inhibited the pHi recovery rate with an IC50 value of 41 microM, the maximum inhibition being approximately 70%. In the presence of amiloride at its maximum concentration (0.3 mM), the addition of 0.6 mM DIDS caused a further decrease, but did not abolish the pHi recovery rate. In the absence of CO2 and HCO3-, the pHi recovery was almost completely abolished by 0.3 mM amiloride. 4. The intracellular H+ accumulation induced by 0.3 mM amiloride or by 0.6 mM DIDS, as estimated from the pHi decrease and buffer capacity, was significantly greater during Gly-Gly superfusion than under resting conditions. 5. The increase in Isc induced by luminal glycylproline was attenuated by either removing serosal Na+ or by adding 0.5 mM amiloride or 0.6 mM DIDS to the serosal side. 6. We conclude that both Na+-dependent, amiloride-sensitive acid extrusion, probably by the Na+-H+ exchanger, and Na+- and HCO3--dependent, DIDS-sensitive acid extrusion, possibly by the Na+-HCO3- cotransporter, are involved in extruding H+ that enters cells by the H+-oligopeptide cotransport. It is proposed that these acid extrusion (or base loading) mechanisms are present in the basolateral membrane and are important for maintaining oligopeptide absorption, as well as the acid extrusion mechanism in the apical membrane.