An endosomal fraction isolated from rabbit renal cortex by a novel, fast, and simple procedure was enriched in ATP-dependent H+ pumping that was oligomycin insensitive but was inhibited by dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD), N-ethylmaleimide (NEM), Zn2+, Hg2+, diethylstilbestrol, mersalyl, and 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole. No substantial Na+-H+ exchange was detected. Electrogenicity of the pump was demonstrated using [14C]-SCN-. In addition, these membranes featured ATP-dependent Cl- flux. The ATP-driven H+ pumping had an absolute requirement for Cl-: an inside-negative membrane potential was not a substitute for Cl-. The protonophore carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone inhibited ATP-driven Cl- uptake but no inhibition was observed with nigericin. Finally, both ATP-driven H+ pumping and ATP-dependent Cl- flux were inhibited by Cl(-)-channel inhibitors. Part, or all, of the absolute dependence on Cl- may derive from a Cl- channel, the function of which is intimately related to H+ pumping by the ATPase. Flux through this Cl- channel may be regulated by one or more factors, including ATP, membrane potential, and pH.

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is the most potent endogenous vasoconstrictor identified to date, raising the strong possibility of its involvement in the pathogenesis of systemic hypertension. Whether ET-1 exerts a direct stimulating effect on sodium reabsorption in the renal proximal convoluted tubule, the dominant locus of sodium reabsorption in the nephron, is currently unknown. Such an effect would suggest yet another mechanism by which ET-1 might mediate systemic hypertension. In studies on membrane vesicles prepared from rabbit renal cortex, we show that ET-1 (10(-8) to 10(-11) M) exerts dose-dependent stimulation of the apical Na+/H+ exchanger and the basolateral Na+/HCO3- cotransporter; preincubation of vesicles with 10(-10) M ET-1 for five minutes enhanced the activity of each transporter by approximately 25%. This stimulation reflected an increase in the Vmax of each transporter but no change in the Km for sodium. The stimulatory effect of ET-1 was blocked in the presence of an ET-1 antiserum. Moreover, the stimulation of the apical Na+/H+ exchanger and the basolateral Na+/HCO3- cotransporter by ET-1 displayed specificity as indicated by the lack of effects on the activities of the apical Na(+)-glucose transporter and the basolateral Na(+)-succinate transporter. The data implicate ET-1 as a novel, direct and specific modulator of sodium reabsorption in the proximal tubule. As such, ET-1 might be a direct determinant of extracellular fluid volume under normal and pathophysiologic circumstances, including hypertensive disorders.

The uptake of D-glucose by renal brush border membrane vesicles was studied in the absence of Na+. Uptake of the sugar was membrane potential dependent (inside negative), inhibited by phlorizin, sugar and stereospecific, accelerated by exchange diffusion, saturable, and temperature dependent. The binding of phlorizin in the absence of Na+ was also increased by a membrane potential (inside negative). Thus, the properties of this membrane potential-dependent, Na+-independent sugar transport system resembled those described for the Na+-D-glucose cotransport system. In the absence of Na+ but in the presence of a valinomycin-induced K+ diffusion potential the apparent Km for D-glucose was 43 mM. This contrasted with an apparent Km of 1.8 mM for the Na+ chemical gradient system. Therefore, the Na+-independent uptake system represented a low-affinity transport mechanism. It is suggested that the same carrier mediated the Na+-independent and Na+-dependent transport systems. A hypothetical model for the membrane potential-dependent stimulation of D-glucose uptake in the absence of Na+ is proposed.

Previous studies have demonstrated a Na(+)-dependent decrease in the ATP-generated acidification of endosomes and have attributed it to the presence of either a Na(+)-H+ exchanger or a Na(+)-K(+)-adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) in parallel with the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase. In the present study we have examined the possibility that both of these two Na+ transporters might be present in endosome-enriched microsomes isolated from rabbit renal cortex. After the establishment of a stable pH gradient by ATP in this preparation, addition of Na+ induced a decrease in the pH gradient. Expression of this effect of Na+ did not require the presence of ATP or K+. Choline and K+ had no effect on the ATP-dependent pH gradient, but addition of Li+ caused a small reduction in the pH gradient. Amiloride, ouabain, and vanadate had no effect on the Na(+)-induced dissipation of the ATP-driven pH gradient. In addition, a pH gradient-dependent 22Na+ uptake by the endosomal vesicles that was insensitive to amiloride, ouabain, or vanadate was demonstrated. These results provide evidence against the presence of a Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase in endosome-enriched microsomes from the renal cortex and support the existence of an amiloride-insensitive Na(+)-H+ exchanger in parallel with the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase. This endosomal Na(+)-H+ exchanger might have important implications for the regulation of vacuolar H(+)-ATPase activity as well as proximal tubule acidification.