Isolation and partial purification of a Na+-dependent phlorizin receptor from dog kidney proximal tubule

High-affinity phlorizin binding in Mytilus gill

The gill of the marine mussel, Mytilus, contains a high affinity, Na-dependent D-glucose transporter capable of accumulating glucose directly from sea water. We examined the ability of the beta-glucoside, phlorizin, to act as a high-affinity ligand of this process in intact gills and isolated brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV). The time course of association of nanomolar [3H]phlorizin to gills and BBMV was slow, with t50 values between 10 and 30 min, and a half-time for dissociation of approx. 30 min. 1 mM D-glucose reduced equilibrium binding of 1 nM phlorizin by 90-95%, indicating that there was little non-specific binding of this ligand to the gill. In addition, there was little, if any, hydrolysis by the gill of phlorizin to its constituents, glucose and phloretin. Phlorizin binding to gills and BBMV was significantly inhibited by the addition of 50 microM concentrations of D-glucose and alpha-methyl-D-glucose, and unaffected by the addition of L-glucose and fructose. Binding to gills and BBMV was reduced by greater than 90% when Na+ was replaced by K+. Replacement of Na+ by Li+ effectively blocked binding to the intact gill, although Li+ did support a limited amount of glucose-specific phlorizin binding in BBMV. The Kd values for glucose-specific phlorizin binding in intact gills and BBMV were 0.5 nM and 6 nM, respectively. We conclude that phlorizin binds with extremely high affinity to the Na-dependent glucose transporter of Mytilus gill, which may be useful in future efforts to isolate and purify the protein(s) involved in integumental glucose transport.

Stimulation of intestinal Na+/D-glucose cotransport by monoclonal antibodies

The small intestinal brush border membrane is endowed with a number of transport systems. Monoclonal antibodies were produced against integral membrane proteins and tested for their ability to bind to such membranes. For this purpose papain-digested, deoxycholate-extracted BBMVs from rabbit small intestine were used to immunize mice. Of the 765 hybridoma supernatants tested, 119 gave a significantly higher extent of binding to the crude antigen preparation as compared with the background. The monoclonal antibodies were also tested for their ability to influence the sodium-dependent uptake of solutes into intact BBMVs. Two monoclonal antibodies clearly showed stimulation of secondary active D-glucose transport, whereas sodium-dependent uptake of L-alanine and L-proline was not affected. Hydrophobically labeled, i.e. intrinsic, membrane proteins of 175, 78 and 65 kilodaltons could be immunoprecipitated by both monoclonal antibodies, the 78 kDa band corresponding in all likelihood to the Na+/glucose cotransporter.