. Role of a tyrosine kinase in the CO 2-induced stimulation of HCO 3 Ϫ reabsorption by rabbit S2 proximal tubules. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 291: F358 -F367, 2006; doi:10.1152/ajprenal.00520.2005.-A previous study demonstrated that proximal tubule cells regulate HCO 3 Ϫ reabsorption by sensing acute changes in basolateral CO2 concentration, suggesting that there is some sort of CO2 sensor at or near the basolateral membrane (Zhou Y, Zhao J, Bouyer P, and Boron WF Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102: 3875-3880, 2005). Here, we hypothesized that an early element in the CO 2 signal-transduction cascade might be either a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) or a receptorassociated (or soluble) tyrosine kinase (sTK). In our experiments, we found, first, that basolateral 17.5 M genistein, a broad-spectrum tyrosine kinase inhibitor, virtually eliminates the CO 2 sensitivity of HCO 3 Ϫ absorption rate (J HCO 3 ). Second, we found that neither basolateral 250 nM nor basolateral 2 M PP2, a high-affinity inhibitor for the Src family that also inhibits the Bcr-Abl sTK as well as the Kit RTK, reduces the CO 2-stimulated increase in J HCO 3 . Third, we found that either basolateral 35 nM PD168393, a high-affinity inhibitor of RTKs in the erbB (i.e., EGF receptor) family, or basolateral 10 nM BPIQ-I, which blocks erbB RTKs by competing with ATP, eliminates the CO2 sensitivity. In conclusion, the transduction of the CO2 signal requires activation of a tyrosine kinase, perhaps an erbB. The possibilities include the following: 1) a TK is simply permissive for the effect of CO 2 on J HCO 3 ; 2) a CO2 receptor activates an sTK, which would then raise J HCO 3 ; 3) a CO2 receptor transactivates an RTK; and 4) the CO2 receptor could itself be an RTK.kidney; out-of-equilibrium solutions; acid-base; volume reabsorption; signal transduction RENAL TUBULE CELLS PLAY A central role in whole body acid-base balance by 1) secreting H ϩ into the tubule lumen, thereby titrating NH 3 to NH 4 ϩ and also creating titratable acid; and 2) moving an equivalent amount of "new HCO 3 Ϫ " into the blood, ϳ70 mmol/day in humans, and thereby titrating the fixed acid produced by metabolism and generated by the gastrointestinal tract. At the same time, the tubules must also reabsorb nearly all of a much larger amount of HCO 3 Ϫ filtered in the glomeruli. The proximal tubule (PT) is the site of generation of ϳ60% of the new HCO 3 Ϫ and the site of reabsorption of ϳ80% of the filtered HCO 3 Ϫ , using the same transporters in both processes. The cell uses cytosolic carbonic anhydrase II (51, 52) to convert CO 2 ϩ H 2 O to H ϩ ϩ HCO 3 Ϫ , and then extrudes the H ϩ across the apical membrane (3, 10, 50) via Na/H exchangers (6, 7, 34) and H ϩ pumps (22) and exports the HCO 3 Ϫ across the basolateral membrane, mainly via the electrogenic Na-HCO 3 cotransporter (11,16,47,48). For the system to work properly, the PT cell must be able to respond to changes in whole body acid-base status by appropriately adjusting transporters activities.To study how the PT senses changes in whole bo...