Sodium-dependent Alanine Uptake Research Articles

The effects of cocaine on neutral amino acid uptake by human placental basal membrane vesicles

Prior studies have demonstrated that cocaine binds to human placental microvillous membrane vesicles at a single high-affinity site and that both 10 and 500 nmol/L cocaine inhibit sodium-dependent alanine uptake. The purpose of this study was to characterize cocaine binding to human placental basal plasma membrane and to determine the effects of cocaine on basal vesicle uptake of alanine and leucine. Basal vesicles were isolated from the placentas of uncomplicated human pregnancies with no history of cocaine use. The binding of tritiated cocaine to basal vesicle membrane and the uptakes of tritiated cocaine, alanine, and leucine were determined with filtration assays. Alanine and leucine uptakes were measured in the presence and absence of sodium and 10 and 500 nmol/L cocaine. Cocaine binding was characterized with Scatchard analyses, and uptakes were compared by means of Student t tests. Tritiated cocaine bound to basal membrane at two separate high-affinity sites. Sodium-dependent alanine uptake was significantly inhibited only by 500 nmol/L cocaine. Sodium-independent amino acid uptake was unaffected by cocaine. Cocaine may interfere with fetal growth by impairing the activity of sodium-dependent amino acid transporters in both the microvillous and basal membrane. These membranes may be differentially sensitive to the effects of cocaine on such transporters.

Uptake, release, and metabolism of alanine in neurons and astrocytes in primary cultures.

The uptake, release, and metabolism of alanine were studied in primary cultures of cerebral cortical neurons or astrocytes and cerebellar granule neurons. All three cell types exhibited a saturable, sodium-dependent uptake of alanine with Km values (microM) of 256 +/- 30, 463 +/- 39, and 292 +/- 39, respectively, and Vmax values (nmol/min/mg) of 15.9 +/- 0.7, 7.9 +/- 0.01, and 17.4 +/- 0.8, respectively. The corresponding values (nmol/min/mg) for the specific activity of alanine aminotransferase were 4.7 +/- 0.4, 17.1 +/- 2.5, and 4.5 +/- 0.9 (all values represent the mean +/- SEM). Release of alanine from the cells was rectilinear with time over a 10 hr period in case of astrocytes (40 nmol/hr/mg) and cerebellar granule neurons (21 nmol/hr/mg). In cortical neurons the release rate declined from an initial value of 19 nmol/hr/mg during the first 3 hr to a value of less than 3 nmol/hr/mg during the subsequent 7 hr of incubation. Metabolism of [14C]alanine to 14CO2 was found to have a lag period of 15 min and subsequently the rate of CO2 production was constant over a 45 min period with a value of 0.5 nmol/min/mg in granule neurons and about 0.3 nmol/min/mg in the other two cell types. Altogether the results show that alanine is preferentially produced in and released from astrocytes and accumulated into both GABAergic cortical neurons and glutamatergic cerebellar granule neurons.

Primary culture of rabbit proximal tubules as a cellular model to study nephrotoxicity of xenobiotics

The effects of gentamicin treatment on functions of the plasma membrane-bound proteins in situ were investigated in primary culture of rabbit proximal tubular cells (PTC), a recognized model of renal epithelial cells. Activities of apical and basolateral enzymes, activities of phosphate, glucose and alanine sodium-coupled transport systems and leakage of the cytosolic enzyme lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were determined in PTC grown in glucose-free culture medium as confluent monolayers and incubated with the aminoglycoside. Gentamicin altered in a concentration- and time-dependent manner the activity of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV), neutral aminopeptidase (NAP), Na+K(+)-ATPase and the Vmax of sodium-dependent glucose and phosphate uptake, whereas gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase (GGT) and sodium-dependent alanine uptake were unaffected. Identical concentration of gentamicin was required to induce LDH leakage and cell functions impairment. In contrast, under short time exposure, a condition where the enzyme activities were untouched, mercuric chloride inhibited to a similar extent the activity of the three sodium-coupled transport systems. These data suggest that whereas alterations in membrane fluidity might mediate the effects of gentamicin on membrane functions, the inhibition of transports by mercuric chloride rather reflects an effect on sodium permeability of the apical membrane. They also suggest that study of Na(+)-coupled transports in proximal tubular cells grown in primary culture is a simple and sensitive in vitro model to assess drug-induced nephrotoxicity.

Sodium-dependent phosphate and alanine transports but sodium-independent hexose transport in type II alveolar epithelial cells in primary culture

Inorganic phosphate, amino acids and sugars are of obvious importance in lung metabolism. We investigated sodium-coupled transports with these organic and inorganic substrates in type II alveolar epithelial cells from adult rat after one day in culture. Alveolar type II cells actively transported inorganic phosphate and alanine, a neutral amino acid, by sodium-dependent processes. Cellular uptakes of phosphate and alanine were decreased by about 80% by external sodium substitution, inhibited by ouabain (30 and 41%, respectively) and displayed saturable kinetics. Two sodium-phosphate cotransport systems were characterized: a high-affinity one (apparent K m = 18 μM) with a V max of 13.5 nmol/mg protein per 10 min and a low-affinity one (apparent K m = 126 μM) with a V max of 22.5 nmol/mg protein per 10 min. Alanine transport had an apparent K m of 87.9 μM and a V max of 43.5 nmol/mg protein per 10 min. By contrast, cultured alveolar type II cells did not express sodium-dependent hexose transport. Increasing time in culture decreased V max values of the two phosphate transport systems in day 4 while sodium-dependent alanine uptake was unchanged. This study demonstrated the existence of sodium-dependent phosphate and amino acid transports in alveolar type II cells similar to those documented in other epithelial cell types. These sodium-coupled transports provide a potent mechanism for phosphate and amino acid absorption and are likely to play a role in substrate availability for cellular metabolism and in regulating the composition of the alveolar subphase. The decrease in phosphate uptake with time in culture is parallel to decrease in surfactant synthesis reported in cultured alveolar type II cells, suggesting that phosphate availability for surfactant synthesis may be accomplished by a sodium-dependent phosphate uptake.

Inhibition of L-Alanine Uptake into Bovine Jejunal Brush Border Membrane Vesicles by L-Amino Acids

Jejunal epithelial cells from slaughtered Holstein cows were fractionated to obtain purified brush border membranes from which membrane vesicles were prepared for use in amino acid uptake studies. Uptake of alanine was determined by incubation of vesicles with a solution containing radiolabelled alanine, isolation of vesicles and accumulated alanine by filtration, and detection of accumulated alanine by liquid scintillation counting. Uptake studies were conducted under conditions shown to provide linear rates of accumulation. Sodium-dependent active transport was determined as the difference between uptake measured in the presence and absence of sodium in the extravesicular buffer. Inhibition of alanine uptake increased with increasing extra-vesicular inhibitor concentration until a plateau value was reached. Inhibition of sodium-dependent alanine uptake by 100mM glycine was 72%; 25mM isoleucine, valine, or methionine completely inhibited initial alanine uptake. These results indicate the existence of at least two sodium-dependent transport systems, one capable and one incapable of accepting glycine for transport. At concentrations designed to represent expected concentrations of free amino acids in intestinal digesta, several equimolar mixtures (.2 to 5mM) of 20 amino acids inhibited alanine uptake, suggesting that significant interaction among amino acids for uptake may be occurring under in vivo conditions.

Sodium-induced conformation changes in membrane transport proteins

In the presence of KC1, tryptic digestion of vesicles derived from pigeon erythrocyte membranes inactivates sodium-dependent uptake of alanine by the vesicles, whereas digestion in the presence of NaCl does not. Extensive degradation of vesicle proteins occurs under both conditions. Similarly, the extent of inhibition by N-ethylmaleimide of the sodium-dependent influxes of both glycine and alanine into human erythrocytes is greater when the cells are exposed to the thiol reagent in the presence of KC1 than when NaCl is used. These observations are interpreted as providing evidence for sodium-induced conformation changes in these transport proteins.

Diabetes enhances activity of alanine transport in liver plasma membrane vesicles.

In the present study plasma membrane vesicles were prepared from livers of control and alloxan-induced diabetic rats and the substrate specificity and kinetic characteristics of alanine transport determined in both groups. Sodium-dependent alanine uptake at physiological alanine concentrations (100 microM) was enhanced threefold in diabetic as compared with control animals (0.31 +/- 0.04 vs. 0.11 +/- 0.01 nmol X mg protein-1 X 10 s-1). This accelerated influx corresponded to a three- to fourfold increase in the Vmax of alanine transport in diabetic versus control group (7.1 +/- 2.1 vs. 1.6 +/- 0.2 nmol X mg protein-1 X 10 s-1, P less than 0.05), whereas the Km of alanine uptake was unchanged (2.8 +/- 1.2 vs. 1.4 +/- 0.1 mM). Other neutral amino acids (20 mM) inhibited alanine transport to a similar degree in both groups. The sodium-dependent influx of glutamine (100 microM) was similar in diabetic and control groups (0.17 +/- 0.03 and 0.14 +/- 0.02 nmol X mg protein-1 X 10 s-1, respectively). The initial velocity of 22Na uptake (80 mM) into vesicles and half-maximal stimulation of alanine transport was achieved at essentially identical sodium concentrations (approximately 40 mM) in both groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Localisation of alanine uptake by cultured renal epithelial cells (LLC-PK1) to the basolateral membrane.

Alanine uptake by LLC-PK1 cells has previously been demonstrated to be almost exclusively sodium dependent. We here confirm that when the cells are grown on an impermeable substratum there is a marked fall in uptake as confluence is reached. By applying an autoradiographic technique to visualize transported alanine, it is clear, however, that even in subconfluent cultures there is marked cellular inhomogeneity with regard to uptake, which takes place predominantly in those cells at the periphery of growing islands and not those at the interior. In contrast, when cells are grown on permeable substrata, a uniform distribution of silver grains is found. In two other types of experiment, we found that when confluent cell monolayers on an impermeable support were treated briefly with a chelating agent or suspended by mechanical treatment, there was a marked increase per cell in sodium-dependent alanine uptake and in ouabain-sensitive potassium uptake. We conclude that the apparent fall in alanine uptake as cells reach confluence on an impermeable support is due to masking of transport sites, which are predominantly, if not exclusively, located at the basolateral membrane.

Synthesis of phlorizin derivatives and their inhibitory effect on the renal sodium/ d-glucose cotransport system

To characterize further the Na +/ d-glucose cotransport system in renal brush border membranes, phlorizin - a potent inhibitor of d-glucose transport - has been chemically modified without affecting the d-glucose moiety or changing the side groups that are essential for the binding of phlorizin to the Na +/ d-glucose cotransport system. One series of chemical modifications involved the preparation of 3-nitrophlorizin and the subsequent catalytic reduction of the nitro compound to 3-aminophlorizin. From 3-aminophlorizin, 3-bromoacetamido-, 3-dansyl- and 3-azidophlorizin have been synthesized. In another approach, 3′-mercuryphlorizin was obtained by reaction of phlorizin with Hg(II) acetate. The phlorizin derivatives inhibit sodium-dependent but not sodium-independent d-glucose uptake by hog renal brush border membrane vesicles in the following order of potency: 3′-mercuryphlorizin = phlorizin > 3-aminophlorizin > 3-bromoacetamidophlorizin > 3-azidophlorizin > 3-nitrophlorizin > 3-dansylphlorizin. 3-Bromoacetamidophlorizin - a potential affinity label - also inhibits sodium-dependent but not sodium-independent phlorizin binding to brush border membranes. In addition, sodium-dependent phosphate and sodium-dependent alanine uptake are not affected by 3-bromoacetamidophlorizin. The results described above indicate that specific modifications of the phlorizin molecule at the A-ring or B-ring are possible that yield phlorizin derivatives with a high affinity and high specificity for the renal Na +/ d-glucose cotransport system. Such compounds should be useful in future studies using affinity labeling (3-bromoacetamido- and 3-azidophlorizin) or fluorescent probes (3-dansylphlorizin).

Heterogeneous distribution of the sodium-dependent alanine transport activity in the rat hepatocyte plasma membrane

The localization of the sodium-dependent alanine uptake activity in rat liver cells was studied. Fractions representative of the canalicular, the contiguous (lateral) and the blood-sinusoidal surface of the hepatocyte were isolated by means of centrifugal fractionation and density gradient centrifugation. The distribution of various marker-enzyme activities in conjunction with the occurrence of alanine transport activity was studied both in fractions obtained after zonal density gradient centrifugation, and in the subcellular fractions mentioned above. It is concluded that the sodium-dependent alanine transport activity is primarily located in the blood-sinusoidal plasma membrane of the hepatocyte.

Reconstitution of neutral amino acid transport from partially purified membrane components from Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.

Solubilized protein fractions have been obtained from plasma membranes of Ehrlich ascites cells either by extraction with 0.5% Triton X-100 or by extraction with 2% cholate. Partial purification of the solubilized protein fraction has been obtained by utilizing a combination of ammonium sulfate precipitation and column chromatography. Leucine-binding activity has been detected in the Triton X-100 solubilized membrane fraction. The leucine-binding activity was measured by equilibrium dialysis and was saturable with high levels of leucine or phenylalanine and is not strongly effected by alanine. These properties are similar to those previously identified as System L. In addition, the cholate extracted protein fraction was partially purified and reconstituted into liposomes. Sodium dependent uptake of alanine and leucine could be demonstrated in the reconstituted vesicles. Concentrative uptake was dependent upon a sodium gradient. A membrane potential produced by valinomycin mediated potassium diffusion in the presence of sodium also stimulated amino acid transport in reconstituted liposomes.