ATPase-immunoreactive Cells Research Articles

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator in the gills of the climbing perch, Anabas testudineus, is involved in both hypoosmotic regulation during seawater acclimation and active ammonia excretion during ammonia exposure

This study aimed to clone and sequence the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (cftr) from, and to determine the effects of seawater acclimation or exposure to 100 mmol l⁻¹ NH₄Cl in freshwater on its mRNA and protein expressions in, the gills of Anabas testudineus. There were 4,530 bp coding for 1,510 amino acids in the cftr cDNA sequence from A. testudineus. The branchial mRNA expression of cftr in fish kept in freshwater was low (<50 copies of transcript per ng cDNA), but significant increases were observed in fish acclimated to seawater for 1 day (92-fold) or 6 days (219-fold). Branchial Cftr expression was detected in fish acclimated to seawater but not in the freshwater control, indicating that Cl⁻ excretion through the apical Cftr of the branchial epithelium was essential to seawater acclimation. More importantly, fish exposed to ammonia also exhibited a significant increase (12-fold) in branchial mRNA expression of cftr, with Cftr being expressed in a type of Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase-immunoreactive cells that was apparently different from the type involved in seawater acclimation. It is probable that Cl⁻ excretion through Cftr generated a favorable electrical potential across the apical membrane to drive the excretion of NH₄⁺ against a concentration gradient through a yet to be determined transporter, but it led to a slight loss of endogenous Cl⁻. Since ammonia exposure also resulted in significant decreases in blood pH, [HCO₃⁻] and [total CO₂] in A. testudineus, it can be deduced that active NH₄⁺ excretion could also be driven by the exit of HCO₃⁻ through the apical Cftr. Furthermore, A. testudineus uniquely responded to ammonia exposure by increasing the ambient pH and decreasing the branchial bafilomycin-sensitive V-type H⁺-ATPase activity, which suggests that its gills might have low NH₃ permeability.

Monitoring of Na+/K+-ATPase mRNA expression in the cinnamon clownfish, Amphiprion melanopus, exposed to an osmotic stress environment: profiles on the effects of exogenous hormone

We examined changes in the expression of Na+/K+-ATPase mRNA in the gills of the cinnamon clownfish using quantitative real-time PCR in an osmotically changing environment [seawater (35 psu; practical salinity unit, 1 psu ≈ 1‰) → brackish water (17.5 psu) and brackish water with prolactin]. The expression of Na+/K+-ATPase mRNA in gills was increased after the transfer to brackish water, and the expression was repressed by prolactin treatment. Also, activities of gill Na+/K+-ATPase and plasma cortisol levels increased after the transfer to brackish water and were repressed in brackish water with prolactin treatment. Na+/K+-ATPase-immunoreactive cells were almost consistently observed in the gill filaments, but absent from the lamella epithelia. The plasma osmolality level decreased in brackish water, but the level of this parameter increased in brackish water with prolactin treatment during salinity change. These results suggest that the Na+/K+-ATPase gene plays an important role in osmoregulation in gills, and prolactin improves the hyperosmoregulatory ability of cinnamon clownfish in a brackish water (hypoosmotic) environment.

FXYD-11 associates with Na+-K+-ATPase in the gill of Atlantic salmon: regulation and localization in relation to changed ion-regulatory status

The Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase is the primary electrogenic component driving transepithelial ion transport in the teleost gill; thus regulation of its level of activity is of critical importance for osmotic homeostasis. In the present study, we examined the dynamics of the gill-specific FXYD-11 protein, a putative regulatory subunit of the pump, in Atlantic salmon during seawater (SW) acclimation, smoltification, and treatment with cortisol, growth hormone, and prolactin. Dual-labeling immunohistochemistry showed that branchial FXYD-11 is localized in Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase immunoreactive cells, and coimmunoprecipitation experiments confirmed a direct association between FXYD-11 and the Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase α-subunit. Transfer of freshwater (FW)-acclimated salmon to SW induced a parallel increase in total α-subunit and FXYD-11 protein expression. A similar concurrent increase was seen during smoltification in FW. In FW fish, cortisol induced an increase in both α-subunit and FXYD-11 abundance, and growth hormone further stimulated FXYD-11 levels. In SW fish, prolactin induced a decrease in FXYD-11 and α-subunit protein levels. In vitro cortisol (18 h, 10 μg/ml) stimulated FXYD-11, but not FXYD-9, mRNA levels in gills from FW and SW salmon. The data show that Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase expressed in branchial mitochondrion-rich cells is accompanied by FXYD-11, and that regulation of the two proteins is highly coordinated. The demonstrated association of FXYD-11 and α-subunit strengthens our hypothesis that FXYD-11 has a role in modulating the pump's kinetic properties. The presence of putative phosphorylation sites on the intracellular domain of FXYD-11 suggests the possibility that this protein also may transmit external signals that regulate Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity.

Nitrogen metabolism and branchial osmoregulatory acclimation in the juvenile marble goby, Oxyeleotris marmorata, exposed to seawater

The marble goby, Oxyeleotris marmorata, considered a freshwater fish, was able to hypoosmoregulate successfully during 14 days of acclimation to seawater (30‰) following 6 days of progressive increase in salinity. In seawater, there were slight perturbations in plasma osmolality and ionic concentrations, and significant increases in contents of some free amino acids, which presumably acted as osmolytes, in tissues. The muscle glutamine content increased significantly during seawater acclimation, and the activity and the protein abundance of glutamine synthetase increased significantly in the liver of fish exposed to seawater for 14 days. Exposure to seawater for 14 days also resulted in branchial osmoregulatory acclimation. There were significant increases in the activity and the protein abundance of gill Na +/K +-ATPase, and protein abundance of gill Na +:K +:2Cl − cotransporter (NKCC). Immunofluorescence microscopy of branchial Na +/K +-ATPase-immunoreactive cells revealed that exposure to seawater led to increases in protein expression of apical cystic fibrosis transmembrane receptor-like chloride channel and basolateral NKCC. Overall, our results indicate that juvenile marble goby can acclimate to brackish water and subsequently to seawater, and prompt future studies on the effects of salinity on its growth and development which may have important application to the Asian marble goby aquaculture industry.

The novel correlation of carbonic anhydrase II and anion exchanger 1 in gills of the spotted green pufferfish, Tetraodon nigrovirids

A novel relationship between branchial carbonic anhydrase II (CAII) and anion exchanger 1 (AE1) was investigated in the euryhaline spotted green pufferfish (Tetraodon nigroviridis). The immunoblots revealed that AE1 was only detected in the membrane fraction of gills while CAII can be probed both in the membrane and cytosol fractions of gills. CAII protein abundance in the membrane fraction is salinity dependent. Immunological detection of the membrane fraction CAII protein in gills showed 3.9-fold higher in the hyposmotic (freshwater) group than the hyperosmotic (seawater;35 per thousand) group. In contrast, there was no change in the protein level of cytosolic CAII between seawater and freshwater groups. The whole-mount immunocytochemical staining demonstrated that both AE1 and CAII were colocalized to the Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase-immunoreactive cells in gill epithelium of the pufferfish. The interaction between CAII and AE1 was further identified by co-immunoprecipitation because AE1 was detected in the immunoprecipitates of CAII and vice versa. Our results showed that in pufferfish gills CAII was not only expressed in the cytosol to produce the substrate for AE1 transport during Cl(-) influx but also associated with the plasma membrane via AE1. Obviously, it is essential for the physiological function of AE1 to interact with CAII in the membrane of gill Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase-immunoreactive cells. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the interaction of branchial CAII and AE1 in fish. The novel correlation proposed a new model of Cl(-)/HCO(3) (-) transport in gills of the teleosts.

Cadmium tolerance in the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) following acute exposure: Assessment of some ionoregulatory parameters

The Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) can tolerate very high levels of waterborne cadmium. It has one of the highest 96 h LC50 recorded for a freshwater teleost fish (14.8 mg/L Cd; hardness 50 mg/L CaCO(3)). Cadmium is known to perturb ion balance in teleost fishes. However, in an acute time course experiment, plasma Na(+) concentrations were unaffected, and plasma Ca(2+) values only decreased after 96 h exposure in a dose-independent manner. Branchial Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase activity and alpha-subunit protein level expression in crude gill homogenates were not affected by Cd exposure during this period. Branchial chloride cell numbers, identified as Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase immunoreactive cells using immunohistochemistry, decreased 24 h after exposure but recovered thereafter. Histopathological changes did not follow a consistent pattern of variation with exposure time, and the alterations noted in gill epithelium were basically nonspecific to cadmium. Because of its tolerance, it can be concluded that the tilapia O. niloticus would not be a suitable test organism to evaluate sublethal toxicity of cadmium and the realistic impact of this pollutant in the environment. However, it certainly could contribute significantly to our understanding of the toxic mechanism of cadmium exposure in aquatic organisms. This is the first work to investigate the effect of waterborne pollutants on Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase alpha-subunit protein expression in fish gills.

Ontogeny of cell type-specific enzyme reactivities in kidney collecting ducts.

Highly specific antibodies against vital enzymes of the collecting ducts were used to study the appearance of cell type specific enzyme profiles in developing rat kidneys. (Na+K)-ATPase, the abundant enzyme of principal cells, could be detected early in utero in most collecting duct cells. However, the characteristic basolateral polarization of this enzyme did not appear until the first hours after birth. After this, the relative amount of (Na+K)-ATPase immunoreactive cells along collecting ducts decreased steadily, to reach the amount found in adult rat kidneys by the 30th postnatal day. Carbonic anhydrase immunoreactivity characteristic for intercalated cells was not detectable in fetal kidneys, but appeared soon after birth, with steadily increasing numbers of cells that were positive. Interestingly, immunoreactive band 3 glycoprotein (anion channel protein of erythrocytes) did not appear until the 5th day of life, with only a slowly increasing number of cells positive for this probe. These results, showing the sequential appearance of cell type-specific enzyme reactivities along collecting ducts, likely reflect a similar pattern of functional development of the respective main cell types. These results may provide an explanation for physiologic neonatal acidosis, as the enzyme profile associated with proton secretion was seen to appear slowly during the first weeks of life in a distinct manner.