Kidney cDNA Clone Research Articles

A Novel Transporter of SLC22 Family Specifically Transports Prostaglandins and Co-localizes with 15-Hydroxyprostaglandin Dehydrogenase in Renal Proximal Tubules

We identified a novel prostaglandin (PG)-specific organic anion transporter (OAT) in the OAT group of the SLC22 family. The transporter designated OAT-PG from mouse kidney exhibited Na(+)-independent and saturable transport of PGE(2) when expressed in a proximal tubule cell line (S(2)). Unusual for OAT members, OAT-PG showed narrow substrate selectivity and high affinity for a specific subset of PGs, including PGE(2), PGF(2alpha), and PGD(2). Similar to PGE(2) receptor and PGT, a structurally distinct PG transporter, OAT-PG requires for its substrates an alpha-carboxyl group, with a double bond between C13 and C14 as well as a (S)-hydroxyl group at C15. Unlike the PGE(2) receptor, however, the hydroxyl group at C11 in a cyclopentane ring is not essential for OAT-PG substrates. Addition of a hydroxyl group at C19 or C20 impairs the interaction with OAT-PG, whereas an ethyl group at C20 enhances the interaction, suggesting the importance of hydrophobicity around the omega-tail tip forming a "hydrophobic core" accompanied by a negative charge, which is essential for substrates of OAT members. OAT-PG-mediated transport is concentrative in nature, although OAT-PG mediates both facilitative and exchange transport. OAT-PG is kidney-specific and localized on the basolateral membrane of proximal tubules where a PG-inactivating enzyme, 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase, is expressed. Because of the fact that 15-keto-PGE(2), the metabolite of PGE(2) produced by 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase, is not a substrate of OAT-PG, the transport-metabolism coupling would make unidirectional PGE(2) transport more efficient. By removing extracellular PGE(2), OAT-PG is proposed to be involved in the local PGE(2) clearance and metabolism for the inactivation of PG signals in the kidney cortex.

NAD(+)-dependent isoform of 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. Cloning and characterization of cDNA from sheep kidney

11 beta-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11-HSD) catalyzes the conversion of cortisol to cortisone and corticosterone to 11-dehydrocorticosterone. This activity may be required to confer normal ligand specificity upon the mineralocorticoid receptor. Although an isozyme of 11-HSD was previously isolated from rat liver, a different isozyme is apparently expressed in mineralocorticoid target tissues. We isolated a sheep kidney cDNA clone encoding this isozyme by expression screening using Xenopus oocytes. The cDNA is 1.8 kilobase pairs in length and encodes a protein of 427 amino acid residues with a predicted M(r) of 46,700. When expressed in oocytes, this enzyme functions as an NAD(+)-dependent 11 beta-dehydrogenase with very high affinity for steroids, but it has no detectable reductase activity. It is 37% identical in amino acid sequence to an NAD(+)-dependent isozyme of 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase but only 20% identical to the NADP(+)-dependent liver isozyme of 11-HSD. It is expressed at high levels in the kidney and adrenal and at lower levels in the colon. The corresponding gene is present in a single copy in the sheep genome. In humans, this gene is a candidate locus for the syndrome of apparent mineralocorticoid excess, a form of hypertension postulated to result from 11-HSD deficiency in mineralocorticoid target tissues.

Cloning of a rabbit kidney cortex AT1 angiotensin II receptor that is present in proximal tubule epithelium

The rabbit proximal tubule (PT) has been widely utilized to study the direct effects of angiotensin II (ANG II) on PT function. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the binding properties of PT ANG II receptors, using nonpeptide antagonists, and to clone a rabbit PT ANG II receptor. In rat and rabbit kidney cortical brush-border and basolateral membranes, specific binding of 125I-ANG II was inhibited by the AT1 ANG II-receptor antagonist DuP 753, but not by the AT2 antagonist PD 123319. Using a rabbit kidney cortex cDNA library, we isolated cDNA encoding an ANG II receptor, with an open-reading frame sharing a high degree of sequence homology to previously cloned AT1 ANG II receptors. In transfected COS-1 cells, this rabbit ANG II receptor had properties of the AT1 class. Northern analysis revealed high levels of mRNA expression for this receptor in rabbit kidney cortex and adrenal gland. Within the kidney, message was detected in primary cultures of rabbit PT cells, as well as in freshly isolated rabbit PT segments. Message was also present in cells of the mouse PT line, MCT, and in rat glomerular mesangial cells. Utilizing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with primers derived from the 1st and 4th transmembrane domains of the rat AT1A ANG II receptor, a 279-bp DNA fragment was amplified from reverse-transcribed RNA from rabbit PT cells. This DNA encoded an amino acid sequence identical to that encoded by the rabbit kidney cDNA clone in the corresponding region and differed by a single base substitution. Southern analysis of rabbit genomic DNA restriction digests with the rabbit ANG II receptor probe revealed hybridization to a single band in each lane. These results indicate that an AT1 ANG II receptor is present in the PT and that a single gene codes for the AT1 receptor in rabbit. The clone isolated in the present study should provide a useful tool with which to study the regulation of the PT renin-angiotensin system.

External pH regulates the slowly activating potassium current IsK expressed in Xenopus oocytes

A slowly activating, delayed rectifier potassium current, I sK, was expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes by injection of cRNA transcribed from a rat kidney cDNA clone. External acidification reversibly decreased the current amplitude. The effects were concentration dependent on protons with K d at pH ≈ 5.5 and a Hill coefficient of 1.0. External acidification reduced the maximal conductance ( G max) without affecting the activation kinetics; this effect was not dependent on membrane voltages. These data suggest that H + ions bind to the channel with a one-to-one stoichiometry, and this binding site may be located outside of the membrane electric field.

Hypotonic solution increases the slowly activating potassium current I sK expressed in Xenopus oocytes

A slowly activating potassium current was expressed in Xenopus oocytes by injection of RNA transcribed from a rat kidney cDNA clone. Hypotonic solutions (160 mOsmol/l; control was 220 mOsmol/l) increased the current by increasing the rate of activation and by decreasing the depolarization needed to activate the current. This effect of hypotonicity was not observed in calcium-free solution, but was unaffected by staurosporine or the calmodulin antagonist W7. Cytochalasin D reduced the current and prevented the increase by hypotonic solution. The results suggest that the increase in this potassium current by hypotonic solution might result from calcium entry and changes in the actin network.

Tissue-specific Expression of β-Galactoside α-2,6-Sialyltransferase: Transcript heterogeneity predicts a divergent polypeptide

The β-galactoside α-2,6-sialyItransferase represents a member of a family of sialyltransferases which catalyze the terminal addition of sialic acid to maturing carbohydrate chains. We surveyed rat tissues using cDNA probes complementary to coding and noncoding domains of the rat liver α-2,6-sialyltransferase. In addition to the expected differences in the level of sialyltransferase mRNA among the tissues, there were dramatic qualitative differences as well. Hepatic sialyltransferase probes hybridize to mRNAs of varying size on Northern blots. A tissue-dependent pattern of expression of these transcripts is documented. Evidence is presented that the multiple transcripts are generated from a common gene sequence. At least one instance of alternate splicing in the generation of the kidney sialytransferase transcripts is predicted by S1 nuclease analysis. We report the isolation of a rat kidney cDNA clone, RKA, that substantiates this tissuespecific alternate splicing event. The RKA insert, although less than full-length, apparently encodes a polypeptide divergent from the reported hepatic α-2,6-sialyltransferase (1). RNA blot analysis indicates that the RKA-type transcripts represent a significant proportion of sialyltransferase RNA in rat kidney. Another class of kidney cDNA clones, RKE, is colinear with the hepatic sialyltransferase sequence. RNA blots probed for the divergent and common regions suggest that complex processing pathways are operative in the tissue-specific expression of sialyltransferase mRNA.

Human endomembrane H+ pump strongly resembles the ATP-synthetase of Archaebacteria.

Preparations of mammalian H+ pumps that acidify intracellular vesicles contain eight or nine polypeptides, ranging in size from 116 to 17 kDa. Biochemical analysis indicates that the 70- and 58-kDa polypeptides are subunits critical for ATP hydrolysis. The amino acid sequences of the major catalytic subunits (58 and 70 kDa) of the endomembrane H+ pump are unknown from animal cells. We report here the complete sequence of the 58-kDa subunit derived from a human kidney cDNA clone and partial sequences of the 70- and 58-kDa subunits purified from clathrin-coated vesicles of bovine brain. The amino acid sequences of both proteins strongly resemble the sequences of the corresponding subunits of the vacuolar H+ pumps of Archaebacteria, plants, and fungi. The archaebacterial enzyme is believed to use a H+ gradient to synthesize ATP. Thus, a common ancestral protein has given rise to a H+ pump that synthesizes ATP in one organism and hydrolyzes it in another and is highly conserved from prokaryotes to humans. The same pump appears to mediate the acidification of intracellular organelles, including coated vesicles, lysosomes, and secretory granules, as well as extracellular fluids such as urine.

Cloning and expression of γ‐glutamyl transpeptidase from isolated porcine brain capillaries

In order to understand the mechanisms regulating the blood-brain barrier we isolated a cDNA clone for gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase from purified porcine brain capillaries by cross-species DNA hybridization using a DNA fragment from a rat kidney cDNA clone. The sequence of the porcine gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase cDNA shows 84% identity in the coding region to the sequence of human placenta gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase cDNA. The derived protein sequences of the human and porcine gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase are 98% similar. Alignment of the porcine and the published rat gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase cDNA sequences revealed an average identity of 79%, except for a small region of 194 base pairs containing a high number of mismatches. After four nucleotide changes within this region of the published rat cDNA sequence, which correct two frame shifts, the derived protein sequences of the rat and the porcine gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase show 97% similarity. The corrected sequence, which includes a region of 65 amino acids, contains additional N-glycosylation sites as well as a hydrophobic protein domain that might represent a second membrane-spanning domain. Tissue-specific expression and diversity of the gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase mRNA transcripts in various porcine and human tissues were analysed by Northern blot hybridization. The 2.2-kb transcript of brain gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase is mainly expressed in the endothelial cells of brain microvessels, in agreement with previous data that showed the brain protein being localized within the blood-brain barrier.

Common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen expressed on leukemia and melanoma cell lines has neutral endopeptidase activity.

We have previously reported that the amino acid sequence of the common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen (CALLA, CD10) translated from a normal human kidney cDNA clone is identical to that of neutral endopeptidase (NEP, EC 3.4.24.11). In this study, we show that by flow cytometry, a monoclonal antibody (135A3) produced against rabbit NEP reacted selectively with leukemia and melanoma cell lines expressing CALLA on their surface. A glycoprotein of apparent Mr 100,000 was immunoprecipitated from surface labeled NALM-1 leukemia or Mel-1477 melanoma cells with monoclonal antibodies to NEP (135A3) or CALLA (44C10). mRNAs hybridizing to a NEP-specific probe were present in CALLA+ leukemia and melanoma cell lines, but absent from CALLA- lines. NEP enzymatic activity was detected on intact cells from CALLA+ lines, but not CALLA- lines. The activity was blocked by two selective inhibitors of NEP, thiorphan and phosphoramidon. CALLA antigen purified from the NALM-6 leukemic cell line by affinity to 44C10-IgG Sepharose retained a peptidase activity that was completely blocked by thiorphan and phosphoramidon. Thus the CALLA antigen present at the surface of leukemia and melanoma cell lines is an enzymatically active neutral endopeptidase.

Sequence of a human kidney cDNA clone encoding thymosin β 10

We have isolated a cDNA clone encoding the 43 amino acid protein, thymosin beta 10, from an adult human kidney cDNA library. A comparison of human and rat thymosin beta 10 cDNA sequences revealed 100% identity for the deduced amino acid sequence and 95% nucleotide identity for the coding region. The thymosin beta 10 cDNA clone was used to probe RNA isolated from monkey kidney epithelial cells of the BSC-1 line. The probe recognized 850 bp and 2.4 kb transcripts in quiescent cells which indicates that the gene is constitutively expressed. The abundance of the 2.4 kb transcript was markedly increased one hour after serum stimulation and declined progressively to a basal value at 24 hours.

Genetic analysis of a mouse t complex locus that is homologous to a kidney cDNA clone.

A mouse kidney cDNA clone, pMK174, identifies restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) that map to two unlinked loci. One, designated D17Rp17, has been mapped near quaking, (qk), on chromosome 17 using three sets of recombinant inbred (RI) strains. A study of several t haplotypes resulted in the identification of t-specific alleles of D17Rp17 that map to the proximal half of the t complex. Neither t-specific nor wild-type D17Rp17 alleles are present in chromosomes carrying either the T Orleans (TtOrl) or the T hairpin tail (Thp) deletions. Comparison with other molecular markers indicates that pMK174 identifies a new proximal t complex locus, Rp17. The second locus identified by pMK174, termed D4Rp18, is tentatively assigned to chromosome 4 by mouse-Chinese hamster somatic cell hybrid analysis.

Androgen-regulated ornithine decarboxylase mRNAs of mouse kidney.

Ornithine decarboxylase, the first enzyme of the polyamine biosynthetic pathway, is induced by androgens in the mouse kidney. We have isolated from a kidney cDNA clone bank two plasmids, pODC1440 and pODC934 , that contain different cDNA inserts corresponding to ornithine decarboxylase mRNA. Identification was based upon the ability of plasmid-specific mRNAs to encode a 53,000-dalton polypeptide that reacts with antibody to purified mouse kidney ornithine decarboxylase. Plasmid pODC1440 hybridizes predominantly to a mRNA that is 2.1 kilobases (kb) long and is induced about 20-fold in the kidneys of female mice treated with testosterone. Plasmid pODC934 hybridizes to mRNAs of lengths 2.2 and 2.6 kb, which are induced about 8-fold by testosterone. There are probably no more than 1-2 copies of the pODC1440 -specific sequence in the mouse genome, while there may be as many as 12 copies of the pODC934 -specific sequence. That the two plasmids correspond to different ornithine decarboxylase mRNAs is suggested by two observations. First, several mouse strains express normal levels of pODC934 -specific RNA and little or no pODC1440 -specific RNA; furthermore, pODC934 -specific RNA is expressed in several tissues while pODC1440 -specific RNA is kidney-specific. Thus, androgen-mediated stimulation of kidney ornithine decarboxylase activity levels involves alterations in the concentrations of at least two distinct mRNAs.