System A and N amino acid transporters are key effectors of movement of amino acids across the plasma membrane of mammalian cells. These Na+-dependent transporters of the SLC38 gene family are highly sensitive to changes in pH within the physiological range, with transport markedly depressed at pH 7.0. We have investigated the possible role of histidine residues in the transporter proteins in determining this pH-sensitivity. The histidine-modifying agent DEPC (diethyl pyrocarbonate) markedly reduces the pH-sensitivity of SNAT2 and SNAT5 transporters (representative isoforms of System A and N respectively, overexpressed in Xenopus oocytes) in a concentration-dependent manner but does not completely inactivate transport activity. These effects of DEPC were reversed by hydroxylamine and partially blocked in the presence of excess amino acid substrate. DEPC treatment also blocked a reduction in apparent affinity for Na+ (K0.5Na+) of the SNAT2 transporter at low external pH. Mutation of the highly conserved C-terminal histidine residue to alanine in either SNAT2 (H504A) or SNAT5 (H471A) produced a transport phenotype exhibiting reduced, DEPC-resistant pH-sensitivity with no change in K0.5Na+ at low external pH. We suggest that the pH-sensitivity of these structurally related transporters results at least partly from a common allosteric mechanism influencing Na+ binding, which involves an H+-modifier site associated with C-terminal histidine residues.

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The Na+-H+ exchanger of the human placental brush-border membrane was inhibited by pretreatment of the membrane vesicles with a histidyl-group-specific reagent, diethyl pyrocarbonate and with a carboxy-group-specific reagent, N-ethoxycarbonyl-2-ethoxy-1,2-dihydroquinoline. In both cases the inhibition was irreversible and non-competitive in nature. But, if the membrane vesicles were treated with these reagents in the presence of amiloride, cimetidine or clonidine, there was no inhibition. Since amiloride, cimetidine and clonidine all interact with the active site of the exchanger in a mutually exclusive manner, the findings provide evidence for the presence of essential histidyl and carboxy groups at or near the active site of the human placental Na+-H+ exchanger. This conclusion was further substantiated by the findings that Rose Bengal-catalysed photo-oxidation of histidine residues as well as covalent modification of carboxy residues with NN'-dicyclohexylcarbodi-imide irreversibly inhibited the Na+-H+ exchanger and that amiloride protected the exchanger from inhibition caused by NN'-dicyclohexylcarbodi-imide.

Microinfusion of glycylsarcosine into superficial nephron sections showed that the dipeptide was reabsorbed mainly in late portions of the rat proximal tubule. In vivo microperfusion data demonstrated a saturable, high-capacity, low-affinity dipeptide reabsorption mechanism that was inhibited by other peptides but not by amino acids or peptidase inhibitors. The reabsorption was enhanced by lowering the luminal pH from 7.5 to 5.5. In vitro studies with rat cortical brush-border vesicles showed that glycylsarcosine uptake was independent of a Na+ gradient and greater uptake occurred when the extravesicular pH was acidic compared with the intravesicular pH. An inward-directed H+ gradient stimulated glycylsarcosine uptake and caused a transient accumulation of the dipeptide inside the vesicles above the equilibrium value. The presence of a proton ionophore abolished the H+ gradient-dependent uptake. An inside-negative membrane potential stimulated the initial uptake of the dipeptide. The uptake process was saturable and inhibited by other peptides but not by amino acids. The vesicle studies also showed that there are at least two peptide transport systems functioning in these vesicles, one a high-affinity, low-capacity type and the other a low-affinity, high-capacity type.