Abstract
Transepithelial apical-to-basal transport and cellular uptake of the non-metabolisable amino acid α-methylaminoisobutyric acid (MeAIB) across confluent monolayers of the human intestinal epithelial cell line Caco-2 are enhanced by a transepithelial pH gradient (apical pH 6.0, basolateral pH 7.4). In Na +-free conditions (apical pH 7.4, basolateral pH 7.4), net absorption (120 ± 58 pmol/cm 2per h, n = 13) and uptake across the apical membrane (cell/medium ratio 0.56 ± 0.06, n = 13) are low. However, in Na +-free conditions with apical pH 6.0, net absorption (685 ± 95 pmol/cm 2 per h, n = 15) and intracellular accumulation (cell/medium ratio 3.63 ± 0.29, n = 14) were marked. Continuous monitoring of intracellular pH (pH i) in BCECF (2′,7′-bis(2-carbozyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein)-loaded Caco-2 cell monolayers indicated that apical addition of MeAIB (20 mM) was associated with H +-flow across the apical membrane in both Na + and Na +-free conditions. This transport process is rheogenic in Na +-free media, stimulating an inward short-circuit current in voltage-clamped Caco-2 cell monolayers. On the basis of competition for MeAIB accumulation and pH i experiments, l-proline, glycine, l-alanine and β-alanine are also substrates for H +-linked transport at the apical membrane of Caco-2 cells but l-valine, l-leucine and l-phenylalanine are not. These data are consistent with the expression, in the apical brush-border membrane of Caco-2 cells, of a H +-coupled, Na +-independent MeAIB carrier.
Published Version
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