AJP - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, Vol 259, Issue 3 372-G379, Copyright © 1990 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

Uphill transport of beta-alanine in intestinal brush-border membrane vesicles

Y. Miyamoto, H. Nakamura, T. Hoshi, V. Ganapathy and F. H. Leibach
Department of Physiology, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Japan.

The characteristics of beta-alaline uptake were studied in brush-border membrane vesicles isolated from the proximal small intestine of rabbits and were compared with those of L-alpha-alanine uptake. The uptake of beta-alanine as well as L-alpha-alanine was significantly stimulated by imposing an inwardly directed Na+ gradient. Studies on transstimulation and substrate specificity provide evidence that the transport system serving beta-alanine is distinct from the system serving alpha-alanine. The beta-system also accepts taurine as a substrate. The Na(+)-dependent uptakes of beta-alanine and L-alpha-alanine were differentially influenced by anions. The order in which anions supported uptake was Cl- = SCN- greater than F- greater than NO3- = SO2(-4) for beta-alanine, whereas it was SCN- greater than F- = Cl- = NO3- greater than SO2(-4) for L-alpha-alanine. Cl- appeared to be the preferred anion to support the uptake of beta-alanine. beta-Alanine uptake was greater in the presence of an inwardly directed Cl- gradient than in the presence of Cl- at equal concentrations on both sides of the membrane. The uptake was maximal when a Na+ gradient and a Cl- gradient were present simultaneously. The NaCl gradient-driven beta-alanine uptake was stimulated by an inside-negative K(+)-diffusion potential induced by valinomycin, showing that the uptake process is electrogenic. Stoichiometric analyses suggest that multiple Na+ and one Cl- are associated with the uptake of one beta-alanine molecule. The kinetic study shows that the transporter for beta-alanine is a high-affinity, low-capacity system (Kt = 46 +/- 1 microM; Vmax = 30 +/- 1 pmol.mg protein-1.15 s-1).

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