Dymowska AK, Schultz AG, Blair SD, Chamot D, Goss GG. Acidsensing ion channels are involved in epithelial Na ϩ uptake in the rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 307: C255-C265, 2014. First published June 4, 2014 doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00398.2013.-A role for acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) to serve as epithelial channels for Na ϩ uptake by the gill of freshwater rainbow trout was investigated. We found that the ASIC inhibitors 4=,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole and diminazene decreased Na ϩ uptake in adult rainbow trout in a dose-dependent manner, with IC 50 values of 0.12 and 0.96 M, respectively. Furthermore, we cloned the trout ASIC1 and ASIC4 homologs and demonstrated that they are expressed differentially in the tissues of the rainbow trout, including gills and isolated mitochondrion-rich cells. Immunohistochemical analysis using custom-made anti-zASIC4.2 antibody and the Na ϩ -K ϩ -ATPase (␣5-subunit) antibody demonstrated that the trout ASIC localizes to Na ϩ /K ϩ -ATPase-rich cells in the gill. Moreover, three-dimensional rendering of confocal micrographs demonstrated that ASIC is found in the apical region of mitochondrion-rich cells. We present a revised model whereby ASIC4 is proposed as one mechanism for Na ϩ uptake from dilute freshwater in the gill of rainbow trout. sodium uptake; gill; acid-sensing ion channels; mitochondrion-rich cells; fish; ionoregulation FISHES LIVING IN FRESHWATER (FW) must actively take up Na ϩ against a steep concentration gradient. Na ϩ uptake occurs via specialized mitochondrion-rich cells (MRCs), located on the fish gill epithelium (26, 29), and was initially proposed to be linked to NH 4 ϩ /H ϩ excretion (26). Subsequent studies have described two models of Na ϩ transport (for review see Refs. 8 and 18). In the first proposed model, Na ϩ is exchanged for H ϩ via an electroneutral Na ϩ /H ϩ exchanger (NHE) located on the apical membrane of MRCs in fish gill epithelia. The identification of multiple NHEs in the gills of zebrafish (Danio rerio) (51), Osorezan dace (Tribolodon hakonensis) (15), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) (7,19), and tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) (48) by immunocytochemistry, Western blot analysis, and RT-PCR, supports this model. However, significant thermodynamic constraints associated with the function of NHEs at very low ion concentrations (Na ϩ Ͻ0.1 mM) and low environmental pH (pH Ͻ5) (1, 34) suggest that fishes living in very soft and poorly buffered water would not be able to rely on a NHE-based mechanism for sufficient Na ϩ uptake. Recently, the NHE model was revised, whereby the ammonia transporter [rhesus (Rh) protein] present on the apical membrane of MRCs (30, 31) forms a functional metabolon with NHE2/3 (50). The revised model does alleviate the thermodynamic constraints associated with a low-pH environment, but not those imposed by low Na ϩ concentrations in the FW aquatic environment (6). Therefore, it is unlikely that this mechanism is the sole contributor to Na ϩ uptake by FW fishes living in low-ionic-strengt...