The beta-subunit of the gastric H+/K(+)-ATPase can occur without the alpha-subunit

Stomachs of mice lacking the gastric H,K-ATPase alpha -subunit have achlorhydria, abnormal parietal cells, and ciliated metaplasia

The H,K-ATPase of the gastric parietal cell is the most critical component of the ion transport system mediating acid secretion in the stomach. To study the requirement of this enzyme in the development, maintenance, and function of the gastric mucosa, we used gene targeting to prepare mice lacking the alpha-subunit. Homozygous mutant (Atp4a(-/-)) mice appeared healthy and exhibited normal systemic electrolyte and acid-base status but were achlorhydric and hypergastrinemic. Immunocytochemical, histological, and ultrastructural analyses of Atp4a(-/-) stomachs revealed the presence of chief cells, demonstrating that the lack of acid secretion does not interfere with their differentiation. Parietal cells were also present in normal numbers, and despite the absence of alpha-subunit mRNA and protein, the beta-subunit was expressed. However, Atp4a(-/-) parietal cells had dilated canaliculi and lacked typical canalicular microvilli and tubulovesicles, and subsets of these cells contained abnormal mitochondria and/or massive glycogen stores. Stomachs of adult Atp4a(-/-) mice exhibited metaplasia, which included the presence of ciliated cells. We conclude that ablation of the H,K-ATPase alpha-subunit causes achlorhydria and hypergastrinemia, severe perturbations in the secretory membranes of the parietal cell, and metaplasia of the gastric mucosa; however, the absence of the pump appears not to perturb parietal cell viability or chief cell differentiation.

Gastrin/cholecystokinin type B receptors in the kidney: molecular, pharmacological, functional characterization, and localization

BACKGROUND

Gastrin/cholecystokinin type B receptors (CCKBRs) can be found on parietal cells and smooth muscle cells and are the predominant brain CCK receptors. Recent cloning studies indicate that this is receptor type might also be expressed in the kidney.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We used Northern blot analysis in guinea pig. kidney and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in several murine kidney cells lines to evaluate this organ for the expression of the CCKBRs. The receptor was pharmacologically characterized by displacement experiments using [125I]-BH-CCKs and various agonists and antagonists. Polyclonal antibodies vs. the CCKBRs were raised in chicken, and immunohistochemistry on tissue sections was used to localize the receptor within the organ. The effect of gastrin on renal cell growth was measured using proximal tubulus (MCT) cells, which were cultured with gastrin (10-9 M) for 24-72 h. Cell counts and [3H]-thymidine incorporation experiments were performed.

RESULTS

CCKBR transcripts can be detected in kidney RNA (tubules > glomeruli > interstitium). RT-PCR revealed CCKBR transcripts in proximal tubules (MCT cells) and in mesangium (MMC). The medullary thick ascending limb of Henle's loop and several control tissues such as liver and muscle were negative. Displacement experiments using [125I]-BH-CCK and various agonists and antagonists identified binding sites with typical CCKBR pharmacology. CCKBRs were localized in the proximal tubulus, distal collecting ducts and mesangium cells. Treatment of rested MCT cells with gastrin 17-1 induced cell proliferation and [3H]-thymidine incorporation by at least 40% compared with normal growth (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

These results show for the first time that CCKBRs are present in selected areas of the kidney, and strongly confirm our previous observation that this organ expresses binding sites for [125I]-gastrin. Furthermore, gastrin might act as a growth factor in the kidney.

Pharmacological aspects of acid secretion

The secretion of gastric acid is regulated both centrally and peripherally. The finding that H2-receptor antagonists are able to reduce or abolish acid secretion due to vagal, gastrinergic, and histaminergic stimulation shows that histamine plays a pivotal role in stimulation of the parietal cell. In the rat, the fundic histamine is released from the ECL cell, in response to gastrin, acetylcholine, or epinephrine, and histamine release is inhibited by somatostatin or by the H3-receptor ligand, R-alpha-methyl histamine. The parietal cell has a muscarinic, M3, receptor responsible for [Ca]i regulation. Blockade of muscarinic receptors by atropine can be as effective as H2-receptor blockade in controlling acid secretion. However, general effects on muscarinic receptors elsewhere produce significant side effects. The different receptor pathways converge to stimulate the gastric H+,K(+)-ATPase, the pump responsible for acid secretion by the stomach. This enzyme is an alpha,beta heterodimer, present in cytoplasmic membrane vesicles of the resting cell and in the canaliculus of the stimulated cell. It has been shown that acid secretion by the pump depends on provision of K+Cl- efflux pathway becoming associated with the pump. As secretion occurs only in the canaliculus, this K+Cl- pathway is activated only when the pump inserts into the canalicular membrane. Transport by the enzyme involves reciprocal conformational changes in the cytoplasmic and extracytoplasmic domain. These result in changes in sidedness and affinity for H3O+ and K+, enabling active H+ for K+ exchange. The acid pump inhibitors of the substituted benzimidazole class, such as omeprazole, are concentrated in the canaliculus of the secreting parietal cell and are activated there to form sulfenamides. The omeprazole sulfenamide, for example, reacts covalently with two cysteines in the extracytoplasmic loops between the fifth and sixth transmembrane and the seventh and eighth transmembrane segments of the alpha subunit of the H+,K(+)-ATPase, forming disulfide derivatives. This inhibits ATP hydrolysis and H+ transport, resulting in effective, long-lasting regulation of acid secretion. Therefore, this class of acid pump inhibitor is significantly more effective and faster acting than the H2 receptor antagonists. K+ competitive antagonists bind to the M1 and M2 transmembrane segments of the alpha subunit of the acid pump and also abolish ATPase activity. These drugs should also be able to reduce acid secretion more effectively than receptor antagonists and provide shorter acting but complete inhibition of acid secretion.

Isolation and partial amino acid sequence of a 78 kDa porcine gastrin-binding protein

1. A 78 kDa protein (p78) has been partially purified from washed membranes isolated from the corpus of porcine gastric mucosa. The purification was monitored by covalent cross-linking of iodinated [Nle15]-gastrin. 2. A single N-terminal sequence extending for 33 amino acids was obtained from the p78 preparation. Partial sequences totalling 192 amino acids were also obtained from 14 tryptic and 3 Staphylococcal V8 peptides. 3. 10 peptides plus the N-terminal sequence were derived from a previously unsequenced protein which was distantly related to the product of the E. coli fadB gene (Baldwin G. S. (1993) Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 104B, 55-61). The remaining 7 peptides were derived from the beta-subunit of the gastric H+/K(+)-ATPase. 4. The gastrin-binding activity remained in association with p78, and could be separated from the beta-subunit of the gastric H+/K(+)-ATPase, during chromatography on tomato lectin-Sepharose. 5. We conclude that p78 binds gastrin, and is a novel member of the enoyl-CoA hydratase/3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase family of enzymes.

Rapid purification of the gastric H+/K(+)-ATPase complex by tomato-lectin affinity chromatography

We have previously shown that tomato lectin binds specifically to the 60-90 kDa membrane glycoprotein of parietal cell tubulovesicles, the beta-subunit of the gastric H+/K(+)-ATPase (proton pump) [Callaghan, Toh, Pettitt, Humphris & Gleeson (1990) J. Cell Sci. 95, 563-576; Toh, Gleeson, Simpson, Mortiz, Callaghan, Goldkorn, Jones, Martinelli, Mu, Humphris, Pettitt, Mori, Masuda, Sobieszczuk, Weinstock, Mantamadiotis & Baldwin (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 87, 6418-6422]. Here we have exploited this interaction for the development of a rapid single-step chromatography procedure for the purification of an active pig gastric proton pump complex. Initially, H+/K(+)-ATPase-enriched membranes, prepared from pig gastric microsomes by density-gradient centrifugation, were extracted in 1% Triton X-100 and passed through a 1 ml tomato lectin-Sepharose 4B column. The bound material, eluted with 20 mM-chitotriose, showed a major band with an apparent molecular mass of 95 kDa, and a faint broad band of 60-90 kDa, by SDS/PAGE. N-Glycanase treatment of the bound material resulted in the appearance of a 35 kDa band, the size of the protein core of the 60-90 kDa glycoprotein beta-subunit. The two components were identified as the 95 kDa alpha-subunit and the 60-90 kDa beta-subunit of the gastric H+/K(+)-ATPase, by immunoreactivity with monospecific antibodies, and by tryptic peptide sequences of the tomato-lectin-bound material. The beta-subunit was present in approximately equimolar amounts to the catalytic alpha-subunit. Whereas the gastric H+/K(+)-ATPase was not active after solubilization in 1% Triton X-100, solubilization of density-gradient-purified membranes in the non-ionic detergent, C12E8, followed by chromatography of the extract on tomato lectin-Sepharose 4B, resulted in the purification of the gastric H+/K(+)-ATPase complex which exhibited K(+)-dependent phosphatase activity. This is the first report of a rapid purification of a partially active solubilized gastric H+/K(+)-ATPase complex.