The inhibitory action of parathyroid hormone (PTH) on Pi reabsorption in the renal proximal tubule is accompanied by a specific decrease in Na-Pi cotransport at the apical brush-border membrane (BBM). It is not known whether this decrease represents decreased activity of Na-Pi cotransporters already present in the BBM or whether the number of cotransporters is decreased. The present study of the molecular mechanism of PTH action made use of a specific cDNA probe and antiserum to a rat renal Na-Pi cotransporter (NaPi-2). Three groups of rats were used: intact controls, chronically parathyroidectomized (PTX), and PTX rats treated acutely (2 h) with bovine PTH-(1--34). Na-Pi cotransport by isolated renal BBM vesicles was increased to 1,315 +/- 44 in PTX rats, compared with 721 +/- 94 pmol.mg-1.10 s-1 in controls (P < 0.002), and was returned to control levels by PTH. Western blots of these BBM showed that PTX caused a 2.8-fold increase in NaPi-2 protein content, which was reduced to control levels by PTH. Immunohistochemistry of perfusion-fixed kidneys showed NaPi-2-specific immunofluorescence exclusively in apical BBM of proximal tubules. Expression of NaPi-2 protein at these sites was increased in PTX rats and decreased after PTH treatment. Northern analysis of total RNA showed that the abundance of NaPi-2-specific mRNA was not changed by PTX but there was a small decrease in response to PTH. The data indicate that PTH regulation of renal Na-Pi cotransport is determined by changes in expression of NaPi-2 protein in the renal BBM.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Starting with the recently published sequence of the rat renal Na-Pi cotransport system, we have cloned a corresponding cDNA from the kidney of winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus), designated flounder NaPi-II. Expression of the cognate in vitro transcribed RNA in Xenopus laevis oocytes stimulated Na-dependent Pi transport specifically and in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Apparent affinities of Na and Pi, as well as the pH dependency, were very similar to those found for the mammalian systems. The flounder NaPi-II cDNA is 2,424 base pairs long and encodes a protein of 637 amino acids. The hydropathy plot predicts eight transmembrane spanning domains. In these regions the flounder NaPi-II-deduced protein shows high homology (approximately 80%, identity, approximately 92% similarity) with the amino acid sequences reported for mammalian NaPi-II proteins. However, in the hydrophilic parts of flounder NaPi-II protein, only minimal similarity could be found between fish and mammalian systems (30% homology, 45% similarity). Northern blot analysis with flounder NaPi-II cDNA as a probe confirmed this finding: even under nonstringent washing conditions, no cross-hybridization with mRNA from rat renal cortex was observed. Interestingly, flounder intestine was found to contain high levels of mRNA corresponding to NaPi-II. Supplementary bands of 1.9 and 4.2 kb were observed on Northern blots of renal and intestinal tissue. The close functional relationship of the flounder NaPi-II protein with the previously described Na-Pi cotransport systems and the pronounced differences on the level of their primary structures provide the tools for detailed structure-function analysis of Na-Pi cotransport.

Although renal Na(+)-P(i) cotransporter gene expression is decreased in X-linked Hyp mice, the mutants do respond to P(i) restriction with an adaptive increase in Na(+)-P(i) cotransport maximal velocity in renal brush-border membrane vesicles. In the present study, we examined the mechanism for the adaptive increase in Na(+)-P(i) cotransport in P(i)-deprived Hyp mice and normal littermates, using a cDNA probe encoding a rat, renal-specific Na(+)-P(i) cotransporter (NaPi-2) and a rabbit polyclonal antibody raised against a synthetic NaPi-2-derived peptide. The low-P(i) diet elicited an increase in Na(+)-P(i) cotransport in normal (141 +/- 13 to 714 +/- 158) and Hyp mice (59 +/- 6 to 300 +/- 62 pmol.mg protein-1.6 s-1; means +/- SE, n = 3, P < 0.01) that was accompanied by an increase in brush-border membrane NaPi-2 protein, relative to ecto-5'-nucleotidase, in normal (1.0 +/- 0.1 to 7.6 +/- 1.5) and Hyp mice (0.3 +/- 0.1 to 7.7 +/- 1.4) (means +/- SE, n = 4; P < 0.01). The low-P(i) diet also elicited an increase in the abundance of NaPi-2 mRNA, relative to the 18S RNA, in normal (157 +/- 9% of control diet, P < 0.05) and Hyp mice (194 +/- 10% of control diet, P < 0.01). Immunohistochemistry revealed that NaPi-2 protein was localized to the brush-border membrane of the proximal tubule and that both intensity of the signal and number of immunostained proximal tubules were increased in renal sections from normal and Hyp mice fed the low-P(i) diet.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)