A High Yield Preparation of Brush Border Membrane Vesicles from Organ-Cultured Embryonic Chick Jejunum: Demonstration of Insulin Sensitivity of Na+-Dependent D-Glucose Transport

Abstract

Although embryonic chick small intestinal segments provide a very limited amount of tissue for preparation of enterocyte brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV), we were able to develop a procedure for isolation of BBMV from cultured 20-d-old embryonic chick jejunum in high yield by modifying a divalent cation precipitation method. Total yield of the brush border marker enzyme alkaline phosphatase in the vesicle fraction as compared to the crude homogenate was approximately 40%, and the specific activity of the enzyme was increased 25-fold on the average. The brush border membrane vesicle fraction was only contaminated with other cellular organelles (basolateral membranes, mitochondria, lysosomes or endoplasmic reticulum) to a minor extent. Functional integrity of the brush border vesicles was indicated by Na+ gradient-driven electrogenic D-glucose transport leading to concentrative transfer (overshoot) of the sugar into an osmotically active intravesicular space. When jejuna were cultured for 48 h in the presence of 10(-6) mol/L insulin, the initial rate of Na(+)-dependent D-glucose uptake by brush border membrane vesicles as well as Na(+)-dependent [3H]phlorizin binding to brush border membranes was approximately twice as high as in vesicles from untreated controls. This strongly suggests that insulin could enhance intestinal absorption of D-glucose by increasing the intrinsic activity of the Na(+)-dependent D-glucose transport system at the luminal membrane of enterocytes.