Monoclonal antibodies that bind the renal Na+/glucose symport system. 2. Stabilization of an active conformation

Glucose uptake and metabolism in the Trichinella spiralis nurse cell

Isolated Trichinella spiralis nurse cells transport a significantly greater amount of glucose/mg of protein than the normal skeletal muscle cell line (L6). V(max) and K(m) estimations revealed that nurse cells have a much higher saturation point than L6 cells for glucose. The effects of numerous physiological conditions (Na(+) concentration, pH, and temperature) on nurse cell glucose uptake were investigated. It was determined that sodium concentration had no effect on glucose uptake. Low (<6.5) and high (>7.3) pH and low (5 degrees C) temperatures significantly effected glucose uptake. The two hormones, insulin and epinephrine, appeared to have little, if any, influence on the rate of glucose uptake by nurse cells. Glucose uptake was inhibited in the presence of 6-carbon carbohydrates. The H(+)/glucose symport inhibitors, dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD) and Carbonyl cyanide 4-trifluoromethoxyphenlhydrazone (FCCP), and the facilitated diffusion inhibitor phloretin also inhibited glucose uptake. Oubain, a Na(+)/glucose symport inhibitor, did not inhibit glucose uptake. These data, in conjunction with Western blot analyses, revealed that the transport of glucose occurs via H(+)/glucose symport and facilitated diffusion, perhaps through the glucose transport proteins GLUT 1 and/or 4. It was also demonstrated that nurse cells are capable of synthesising glycogen. It appears that glycogen is in a constant state of flux and physiological conditions, such as glucose concentration, significantly influence the synthesis of this macromolecule. We conclude that these results are consistent with the hypothesis that nurse cells, at least maintained in vitro, are metabolically highly active but show significant divergence from normal muscle cells in several fundamental aspects of sugar metabolism.

Renal cortical basolateral Na+/HCO3- cotransporter: II. Detection of conformational changes with fluorescein isothiocyanate labeling

Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) fluorescently labels amino groups and has been useful in detecting conformational changes in transport proteins through quenching or enhancement of the fluorescence signal upon exposure of protein to substrates. Solubilized renal basolateral membrane proteins, enriched in Na+/HCO3- cotransporter activity, were reconstituted into liposomes and treated with FITC or its nonfluorescent analogue PITC (phenyl isothiocyanate). In the absence of Na+ and HCO3-, incubation of proteoliposomes with PITC or FITC significantly inhibited cotransporter activity. However, in the presence of Na+ and HCO3- during labeling both agents failed to inhibit cotransporter activity, indicating that these probes interact specifically with the cotransporter. In the presence of the substrates Na+ and HCO3-, PITC binds covalently to amino groups unprotected by substrates leaving the Na+/HCO3- cotransporter available for specific labeling with FITC. Addition of NaHCO3 to FITC-labeled proteoliposomes resulted in a concentration-dependent enhancement of the fluorescence signal which was inhibited by pretreatment with 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene 2',2-disulfonic acid (DIDS) prior to FITC labeling. SDS PAGE analysis of FITC-treated proteoliposomes showed the presence of two distinct fluorescent bands (approximate MW of 90 and 56 kD). In the presence of substrates, the fluorescence intensity of these bands was enhanced as confirmed by direct measurement of gel slice fluorescence. Thus, FITC detects conformational changes of the Na+/HCO3- cotransporter and labels proteins which may represent the cotransporter or components of this cotransporter.

Analysis of Na+-D-glucose cotransporter and other renal brush border proteins in human urine

A sensitive quantitative radioimmunoassay is described by which different antigens in the urine can be assayed simultaneously. Urinary excretion of three proteins from proximal tubules was compared: 1) the Na+-D-glucose cotransporter from brush border membranes and subapical vesicles; 2) a kidney-specific hydrophobic M(r) 400,000 polypeptide from intermicrovillar invaginations and subapical vesicles; and 3) villin from microvilli cores. In the normal urine about 50% of the excreted Na+-D-glucose cotransporter and villin, and about 25% of the M(r) 400,000 polypeptide was associated with brush border membrane vesicles, whereas the remaining fractions of the three proteins formed small sedimentable aggregates which contained some cholesterol and fatty acids but no phospholipids. The normal urinary excretion of the Na+-D-glucose cotransporter was correlated with that of villin and the M(r) 400,000 polypeptide. The data show that membrane proteins from the proximal tubule are excreted by the shedding of different brush border membrane areas. They suggest that some microvilli are released in total, and that a large fraction of the brush border membrane proteins is excreted without being associated with a phospholipid bilayer. In an attempt to define protein excretion patterns during kidney malfunctions, the excretion of brush border membrane proteins was analyzed after one intravenous injection of the X-ray contrast medium, iopamidol. No change in villin excretion was observed, but a reversible increase in the excretion of brush border membrane proteins was found in patients without diabetes. With diabetes a more pronounced iopamidol effect on the excretion of brush border membrane proteins and a significant increase in the excretion of villin was observed.

Inhibition of the Na+/glucose cotransporter functional lysyl residues by 4-(4-methoxy-3-sulfophenyl)-2,6-bis(4-sulfophenyl)pyryl ium

Pyrylium salts react exclusively with the epsilon-amino group of lysyl moieties and display a degree of selectivity exceeding all other known amino group reagents. This study represents the first use of a pyrylium salt in positively identifying the functional role of lysyl residues in a biologically active molecule, the Na+/glucose cotransporter protein. We synthesized a hydrophilic pyrylium salt, 4-(4-methoxy-3-sulfophenyl)-2,6-bis(4-sulfophenyl)pyryliu m perchlorate, which formed a stable pyridinium cation upon reaction with N alpha-acetyl-L-lysine methyl ester. This pyrylium inhibited Na+/glucose cotransporter activity in purified brush border membranes, in a concentration-dependent manner. The data unequivocally establish that critical lysyl residues are responsible for the activity of the membrane-bound glucose cotransporter protein.

Developmentally regulated 75-kilodalton protein expressed in LLC-PK1 cultures is a component of the renal Na+/glucose cotransport system

Na+/D-glucose symport is a secondary active glucose transport mechanism expressed only in kidney proximal tubule and in small intestine. A monoclonal antibody that recognized the Na+/glucose symporter of pig renal brush border membranes also recognized a 75-kD protein in apical membranes isolated from highly differentiated LLC-PK1 cultures, an epithelial cell line of pig renal proximal tubule origin. The 75-kD antigen was enriched from solubilized LLC-PK1 apical membranes by means of high-pressure liquid chromatography. The symporter antigen became apparent on the apical membrane surface after the development of a confluent monolayer in correlation with the expression of transport activity. Long-term treatment of cultures with the differentiation inducer hexamethylene bisacetamide was accompanied by a dramatically increased expression of the symporter antigen as detected quantitatively by Western blot analysis and qualitatively by immunofluorescence staining. The number of symporter-positive cells was dramatically increased after inducer treatment as predicted for differentiation-regulated expression. These results identify a 75-kD protein as a component of a developmentally regulated renal Na+/glucose symporter expressed in cell culture.

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.