Hypotonic shock (change of osmolality from 600 mosmol to 300 mosmol by lowering NaCl concentration) increases the release of organic osmolytes from isolated inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) cells in the following sequence: taurine > betaine > sorbitol > myo-inositol > glycerophosphorylcholine (GPC). The role of G-proteins in regulating the hypotonicity-induced efflux was analysed by exposing cells to various concentrations of a G-protein inhibitor, pertussis toxin (PTX; 20-200 ng/ml), and a Gialpha-protein stimulator, mastoparan (10-50 microM). PTX diminished the hypotonic release of sorbitol and betaine by 43.2+/-9. 5% and 32.2+/-7.8% (n = 5), respectively. Efflux of GPC, myo-inositol and taurine was not significantly altered. Mastoparan (10 microM) increased osmolyte release under isotonic conditions such that release of betaine was increased 3.8-fold and that of sorbitol 2.1-fold, while GPC, myo-inositol and taurine effluxes were only slightly augmented. Under hypotonic conditions, mastoparan stimulated betaine release (1.86+/-0.2-fold, n = 5) but not that of sorbitol. As tested in connection with sorbitol and betaine release, the effect of mastoparan was abolished by PTX, but not the A23187-evoked sorbitol release. Like mastoparan, arachidonic acid increased the release of sorbitol and betaine under isotonic conditions, but under hypotonic conditions it only increased the release of betaine. As to the role of intracellular Ca2+, hypotonic shock evoked an intracellular Ca2+ peak which could be prevented by PTX. Mastoparan increased intracellular Ca2+ under isotonic conditions, whether the extracellular Ca2+ concentration was low or high. The results indicate that G-proteins are involved in regulating sorbitol and betaine efflux from IMCD cells. The G-proteins regulating sorbitol release are probably involved in generating the proper intracellular Ca2+ signal. Betaine efflux, which is independent of intracellular Ca2+, might be regulated by a G-protein-stimulated release of arachidonic acid. Thus, probably several G-proteins are involved in controlling organic osmolyte efflux from IMCD cells.

A primary culture from rat renal IMCD cells was established to investigate the permeability characteristics of the luminal and contraluminal plasma membranes of the papillary collecting duct in vitro. Freshly isolated IMCD cells were grown on filters in a special "epithelial cell" medium. Confluency was proved with an epithelial volt/ohm meter. After 7 d of culture the transepithelial resistance reached more than 1000 omega x cm2. A polarization of the cells with regard to a basolateral localization of a lactate efflux system, and an L-alanine transport system was achieved. The hypotonicity-activated release systems for the organic osmolytes sorbitol and betaine were also located basolaterally, whereas taurine, glycerophosphorylcholine, and myo-inositol left the cells at both cell poles but with different capacity. Morphological observations revealed also that the monolayer was well differentiated. Thus, a model of a renal collecting duct epithelium was established which can be used to analyze polarized and differentiated transport processes across the epithelial cells and their plasma membranes.

To further characterize the hypotonicity-activated efflux pathways for the organic osmolytes taurine and myo-inositol in inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) cells tracer fluxes of taurine and myo-inositol were investigated. The time course of activation of both fluxes after exposure of cells isolated at 600 mosm to a hypotonic medium (300 mosm by omission of sucrose) was identical with a major increase of release within the first 10 min. All ‘anion channel blockers’ employed proved to be strong inhibitors of both fluxes. Inhibition of myo-inositol efflux by 0.5 mM NPPB and 0.1 mM dideoxyforskolin was not significantly different from that of taurine efflux (87.7 ± 11.4 compared to 94.6 ± 4.6% and 98.8 ± 2.0 compared to 95.9 ± 3.7%). However, SITS (0.5 and 0.01 mM), DIDS (0.5 and 0.01 mM), and niflumic acid (0.5 mM) inhibited myo-inositol efflux more strongly than taurine efflux. The respective values were 65.4 ± 4 vs. 42.9 ± 3.6% for 0.01 mM SITS, 65.7 ± 4.2 vs. 45.8 ± 2.0% for 0.01 mM DIDS, and 79.5 ± 3.5 vs. 54.2 ± 2.5% for 0.5 mM niflumic acid. Taurine as well as myo-inositol efflux were decreased to a similar extent by 10 mM extracellular ATP (26.9 ± 6.3 vs. 29.8 ± 17.7% inhibition), by 10 mM extracellular cAMP (52.8 ± 9.8 vs. 60.1+17.2% inhibition) and by reduction of the intracellular ATP content employing 2-deoxy-D-glucose (31.9 ± 5.9 vs. 40.4 ± 13.6% inhibition). In polarized primary cell cultures taurine and myo-inositol were released during a hypotonic shock primarily across the basal-lateral membrane, the ratio of basolateral versus apical efflux was 4.1 for taurine and 3.9 for myo-inositol. Apical fluxes were more sensitive to 0.01 mM SITS or DIDS; this was particularly evident for apical myo-inositol efflux which was inhibited by 0.01 mM SITS by 84.1 ± 5.9% compared to 43.5 ± 13.1% inhibition of the basolateral efflux. Thus, taurine and myo-inositol efflux show to a great extent a similar cellular distribution, intracellular regulation and pharmacological inhibition profile. This similarity suggests that the two osmolytes share an efflux pathway that might be identical with the swelling-activated taurine conductance described previously. Additional minor pathways can, however, not be excluded.

This contribution summarizes recent progress in the understanding of the molecular basis of the release of organic osmolytes that occurs when inner medullary cells are confronted with a drop in osmolarity in their environment. For sorbitol release across the basolateral membrane an increase in intracellular calcium seems to be the prominent signal, initiated by G-protein activation, followed by phosphatidylcholine phospholipase activation and generation of arachidonic acid. The increase in betaine permeability is also G-protein dependent but calcium independent, and is restricted to the basal-lateral cell face. Myo-inositol and glycerophosphorylcholine efflux are calcium and G-protein independent and occur both across the apical and basolateral membrane, although to a different extent. Taurine release is also calcium and G-protein independent; a swelling-activated anion channel at the basolateral membrane represents the major efflux pathway.

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