scholarly journals When two cells are better than one: specialized stellate cells provide a privileged route for uniquely rapid water flux in Drosophila renal tubule

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Cabrero ◽  
Selim Terhzaz ◽  
Anthony J. Dornan ◽  
Saurav Ghimire ◽  
Heather L. Holmes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Permeability ◽  
Plasma Membranes ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Malpighian Tubule ◽  
Stellate Cells ◽  
Fluid Secretion ◽  
Malpighian Tubules ◽  
Principal Cells ◽  
Very High

AbstractInsects are highly successful, in part through an excellent ability to osmoregulate. The renal (Malpighian) tubules can secrete fluid faster on a per-cell basis than any other epithelium, but the route for these remarkable water fluxes has not been established. In Drosophila melanogaster, we show that 4 members of the Major Intrinsic Protein family are expressed at very high level in the fly renal tissue; the aquaporins Drip and Prip, and the aquaglyceroporins Eglp2 and Eglp4. As predicted from their structure and by their transport function by expressing these proteins in Xenopus oocytes, Drip, Prip and Eglp2 show significant and specific water permeability, whereas Eglp2 and Eglp4 show very high permeability to glycerol and urea. Knockdowns of any of these genes impacts tubule performance resulting in impaired hormone-induced fluid secretion. The Drosophila tubule has two main secretory cell types: active cation-transporting principal cells with the aquaglyceroporins localize to opposite plasma membranes and small stellate cells, the site of the chloride shunt conductance, with these aquaporins localising to opposite plasma membranes. This suggests a model in which cations are pumped by the principal cells, causing chloride to follow through the stellate cells in order to balance the charge. As a consequence, osmotically obliged water follows through the stellate cells. Consistent with this model, fluorescently labelled dextran, an in vivo marker of membrane water permeability, is trapped in the basal infoldings of the stellate cells after kinin diuretic peptide stimulation, confirming that these cells provide the major route for transepithelial water flux. The spatial segregation of these components of epithelial water transport may help to explain the unique success of the higher insects.Significance statementThe tiny insect renal (Malpighian) tubule can transport fluid at unparalleled speed, suggesting unique specialisations. Here we show that strategic allocation of Major Intrinsic Proteins (MIPs) to specific cells within the polarized tubule allow the separation of metabolically intense active cation transport from chloride and water conductance. This body plan is general to at least many higher insects, providing a clue to the unique success of the class Insecta.

scholarly journals Specialized stellate cells offer a privileged route for rapid water flux in Drosophila renal tubule

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (3) ◽  
pp. 1779-1787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Cabrero ◽  
Selim Terhzaz ◽  
Anthony J. Dornan ◽  
Saurav Ghimire ◽  
Heather L. Holmes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Permeability ◽  
Plasma Membranes ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Stellate Cells ◽  
Fluid Secretion ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Renal Tissue ◽  
Malpighian Tubules ◽  
Very High

Insects are highly successful, in part through an excellent ability to osmoregulate. The renal (Malpighian) tubules can secrete fluid faster on a per-cell basis than any other epithelium, but the route for these remarkable water fluxes has not been established. In Drosophila melanogaster, we show that 4 genes of the major intrinsic protein family are expressed at a very high level in the fly renal tissue: the aquaporins (AQPs) Drip and Prip and the aquaglyceroporins Eglp2 and Eglp4. As predicted from their structure, and by their transport function by expressing these proteins in Xenopus oocytes, Drip, Prip, and Eglp2 show significant and specific water permeability, whereas Eglp2 and Eglp4 show very high permeability to glycerol and urea. Knockdowns of any of these genes result in impaired hormone-induced fluid secretion. The Drosophila tubule has 2 main secretory cell types: active cation-transporting principal cells, wherein the aquaglyceroporins localize to opposite plasma membranes, and small stellate cells, the site of the chloride shunt conductance, with these AQPs localizing to opposite plasma membranes. This suggests a model in which osmotically obliged water flows through the stellate cells. Consistent with this model, fluorescently labeled dextran, an in vivo marker of membrane water permeability, is trapped in the basal infoldings of the stellate cells after kinin diuretic peptide stimulation, confirming that these cells provide the major route for transepithelial water flux. The spatial segregation of these components of epithelial water transport may help to explain the unique success of the higher insects in regulating their internal environments.

scholarly journals A SLC4-like anion exchanger from renal tubules of the mosquito (Aedes aegypti): evidence for a novel role of stellate cells in diuretic fluid secretion

2010 ◽  
Vol 298 (3) ◽  
pp. R642-R660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. Piermarini ◽  
Laura F. Grogan ◽  
Kenneth Lau ◽  
Li Wang ◽  
Klaus W. Beyenbach
Keyword(s):  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Anion Exchanger ◽  
Xenopus Oocytes ◽  
Malpighian Tubule ◽  
Stellate Cells ◽  
Fluid Secretion ◽  
Malpighian Tubules ◽  
Renal Tubules ◽  
Basal Region ◽  
Principal Cells

Transepithelial fluid secretion across the renal (Malpighian) tubule epithelium of the mosquito ( Aedes aegypti ) is energized by the vacuolar-type (V-type) H+-ATPase and not the Na+-K+-ATPase. Located at the apical membrane of principal cells, the V-type H+-ATPase translocates protons from the cytoplasm to the tubule lumen. Secreted protons are likely to derive from metabolic H2CO3, which raises questions about the handling of HCO3−by principal cells. Accordingly, we tested the hypothesis that a Cl/HCO3anion exchanger (AE) related to the solute-linked carrier 4 (SLC4) superfamily mediates the extrusion of HCO3−across the basal membrane of principal cells. We began by cloning from Aedes Malpighian tubules a full-length cDNA encoding an SLC4-like AE, termed AeAE. When expressed heterologously in Xenopus oocytes, AeAE is both N- and O-glycosylated and mediates Na+-independent intracellular pH changes that are sensitive to extracellular Cl−concentration and to DIDS. In Aedes Malpighian tubules, AeAE is expressed as two distinct forms: one is O-glycosylated, and the other is N-glycosylated. Significantly, AeAE immunoreactivity localizes to the basal regions of stellate cells but not principal cells. Concentrations of DIDS that inhibit AeAE activity in Xenopus oocytes have no effects on the unstimulated rates of fluid secretion mediated by Malpighian tubules as measured by the Ramsay assay. However, in Malpighian tubules stimulated with kinin or calcitonin-like diuretic peptides, DIDS reduces the diuretic rates of fluid secretion to basal levels. In conclusion, Aedes Malpighian tubules express AeAE in the basal region of stellate cells, where this transporter may participate in producing diuretic rates of transepithelial fluid secretion.

Anti-diuresis in the blood-feeding insect Rhodnius prolixus Stål: the peptide CAP2b and cyclic GMP inhibit Malpighian tubule fluid secretion.

1997 ◽  
Vol 200 (17) ◽  
pp. 2363-2367 ◽  
Author(s):  
M C Quinlan ◽  
N J Tublitz ◽  
M J O'Donnell
Keyword(s):  
Cyclic Gmp ◽  
Physiological Role ◽  
Malpighian Tubule ◽  
Fluid Secretion ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Rhodnius Prolixus ◽  
Malpighian Tubules ◽  
Tubule Fluid ◽  
Secretion Rates

Rhodnius prolixus eliminates NaCl-rich urine at high rates following its infrequent but massive blood meals. This diuresis involves stimulation of Malpighian tubule fluid secretion by diuretic hormones released in response to distention of the abdomen during feeding. The precipitous decline in urine flow that occurs several hours after feeding has been thought until now to result from a decline in diuretic hormone release. We suggest here that insect cardioacceleratory peptide 2b (CAP2b) and cyclic GMP are part of a novel mechanism of anti-diuresis. Secretion rates of 5-hydroxytryptamine-stimulated Malpighian tubules are reduced by low doses of CAP2b or cyclic GMP. Maximal secretion rates are restored by exposing tubules to 1 mmol l-1 cyclic AMP. Levels of cyclic GMP in isolated tubules increase in response to CAP2b, consistent with a role for cyclic GMP as an intracellular second messenger. Levels of cyclic GMP in tubules also increase as urine output rates decline in vivo, suggesting a physiological role for this nucleotide in the termination of diuresis.

Cell-type specific calcium signalling in a Drosophila epithelium

1997 ◽  
Vol 110 (15) ◽  
pp. 1683-1692 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Rosay ◽  
S.A. Davies ◽  
Y. Yu ◽  
A. Sozen ◽  
K. Kaiser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nitric Oxide ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Cell Signalling ◽  
Calcium Signalling ◽  
Malpighian Tubule ◽  
Fluid Secretion ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Cytosolic Calcium ◽  
Atpase Inhibitor ◽  
Principal Cells

Calcium is a ubiquitous second messenger that plays a critical role in both excitable and non-excitable cells. Calcium mobilisation in identified cell types within an intact renal epithelium, the Drosophila melanogaster Malpighian tubule, was studied by GAL4-directed expression of an aequorin transgene. CAP2b, a cardioactive neuropeptide that stimulates fluid secretion by a mechanism involving nitric oxide, causes a rapid, dose-dependent rise in cytosolic calcium in only a single, genetically-defined, set of 77 principal cells in the main (secretory) segment of the tubule. In the absence of external calcium, the CAP2b-induced calcium response is abolished. In Ca2+-free medium, the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase inhibitor, thapsigargin, elevates [Ca2+]i only in the smaller stellate cells, suggesting that principal cells do not contain a thapsigargin-sensitive intracellular pool. Assays for epithelial function confirm that calcium entry is essential for CAP2b to induce a physiological response in the whole organ. Furthermore, the data suggest a role for calcium signalling in the modulation of the nitric oxide signalling pathway in this epithelium. The GAL4-targeting system allows general application to studies of cell-signalling and pharmacology that does not rely on invasive or cytotoxic techniques.

The initial stages in the action of an insecticidal delta-endotoxin of Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis on the epithelial cells of the malpighian tubules of the insect, Rhodnius prolixus

1988 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-144
Author(s):  
S.H. Maddrell ◽  
N.J. Lane ◽  
J.B. Harrison ◽  
J.A. Overton ◽  
R.B. Moreton
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Thuringiensis ◽  
Intercellular Junctions ◽  
Fluid Secretion ◽  
Malpighian Tubules ◽  
Ultrastructural Changes ◽  
Cytoplasmic Vacuolization ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Delta Endotoxin ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Very High

The effects of the 27 X 10(3) Mr insecticidal delta-endotoxin from Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis have been studied using, as a model system, isolated insect Malpighian tubules. At all concentrations of the toxin higher than 1 microgram ml-1 (4 X 10(−8) moll-1) applied to the outer surface of the tubules, fluid secretion failed within about 30 min. Except at very high concentrations, where failure always takes at least 30 s, there was an inverse relationship between the concentration of toxin and the time of failure of toxin-treated tubules. During exposure to toxin, the tubules were initially unaffected for a relatively long period and then rapid failure occurred. If the tubules were removed into toxin-free saline just before failure would have occurred, fluid secretion remained normal for at least 2 h, but on return to the origin toxin-containing saline failure was almost immediate. The toxin was found not to bind to the basement membrane. Ultrastructural changes became evident as tubule failure occurred. These initially involved modifications to the basal side of the cells, but later also to the luminal microvilli. Intercellular junctions became disassociated and cytoplasmic vacuolization occurred. The population of intramembranous particles in the basal membranes became reduced with time. Our findings suggest the following hypothesis for the initial stages in the interaction of the toxin with the tubules. Toxin molecules attach to the accessible cell membranes progressively and irreversibly. They do not readily associate by diffusing laterally in the membrane, so that toxic effects develop only when sufficiently large numbers of them attach close together. The molecules may then associate in some way as a complex, perhaps forming a pore in the membrane. Relatively few such pores lead rapidly to cell failure and death.

Novel aspects of the transport of organic anions by the malpighian tubules of Drosophila melanogaster

2000 ◽  
Vol 203 (23) ◽  
pp. 3575-3584 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.M. Linton ◽  
M.J. O'Donnell
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Organic Acid ◽  
Organic Anion ◽  
Indigo Carmine ◽  
Organic Anions ◽  
Malpighian Tubules ◽  
Principal Cells ◽  
Anion Transporters ◽  
Mode Of Transport

Para-aminohippuric acid (PAH) is a negatively charged organic ion that can pass across the epithelium of Malpighian tubules. Its mode of transport was studied in Malpighian tubules of Drosophila melanogaster. PAH transport was an active process, with a K(m) of 2. 74 mmol l(−)(1) and a V(max) of 88.8 pmol min(−)(1). Tubules had a low passive permeability to PAH, but PAH transport rates (832 nmol min(−)(1)mm(2)) and concentrative ability ([PAH](secreted fluid):[PAH](bath)=81.2) were the highest measured to date for insects. Competition experiments indicated that there were two organic anion transporters, one that transports carboxylate compounds, such as PAH and fluorescein, and another that transports sulphonates, such as amaranth and Indigo Carmine. PAH transport appears to be maximal in vivo because the rate of transport by isolated tubules is not increased when these are challenged with cyclic AMP, cyclic GMP, leucokinin I or staurosporine. Basolateral PAH transport was inhibited by ouabain and dependent on the Na(+) gradient. The Malpighian tubules appeared not to possess an organic acid/ α -keto acid exchanger because PAH accumulation was not affected by low concentrations (100 μmol l(−)(1)) of α -keto acids (α -ketoglutarate, glutarate, citrate and succinate) or the activity of phosphokinase C. PAH transport may be directly coupled to the Na(+) gradient, perhaps via Na(+)/organic acid cotransport. Fluorescence microscopy showed that transport of the carboxylate fluorescein was confined to the principal cells of the main (secretory) segment and all the cells of the lower (reabsorptive) segment. Organic anions were transported across the cytoplasm of the principal cells both by diffusion and in vesicles. The accumulation of punctate fluorescence in the lumen is consistent with exocytosis of the cytoplasmic vesicles. Apical PAH transport was independent of the apical membrane potential and may not occur by an electrodiffusive mechanism.

Hormone-controlled cAMP-mediated fluid secretion in yellow-fever mosquito

1987 ◽  
Vol 253 (5) ◽  
pp. R701-R711 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. Petzel ◽  
M. M. Berg ◽  
K. W. Beyenbach
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Natriuretic Peptides ◽  
Basolateral Membrane ◽  
Fluid Secretion ◽  
Malpighian Tubules ◽  
In Vivo Studies ◽  
Intracellular Camp ◽  
Yellow Fever Mosquito ◽  
Water Fraction

Evidence is presented for hormone-controlled adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP)-mediated NaCl diuresis in Malpighian tubules of the blood-feeding yellow-fever mosquito Aedes aegypti. Studies in isolated Malpighian tubules reveal that cAMP added to the peritubular bath selectively stimulates NaCl secretion and not KCl secretion by increasing the Na conductance of the basolateral membrane of primary cells. These effects are duplicated by forskolin and theophylline in parallel with increased intracellular concentrations of endogenous cAMP. Two natriuretic peptides that we have isolated by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods from mosquito heads also increase NaCl and fluid secretion in isolated Malpighian tubules together with increased intracellular levels of cAMP. These results are consistent with a mechanism of NaCl diuresis in which the natriuretic peptides and cAMP are respectively the primary and secondary messengers that couple the ingestion of a blood meal to the excretion of the unwanted salt and water fraction of the meal. This hypothesis is supported by in vivo studies that reveal elevated intracellular cAMP levels in Malpighian tubules at the time of maximum NaCl diuresis.

Voltage clamping single cells in intact Malpighian tubules of mosquitoes

2000 ◽  
Vol 279 (4) ◽  
pp. F747-F754 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Masia ◽  
D. Aneshansley ◽  
W. Nagel ◽  
R. J. Nachman ◽  
K. W. Beyenbach
Keyword(s):  
Apical Membrane ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Basolateral Membrane ◽  
Malpighian Tubule ◽  
Input Resistance ◽  
Membrane Resistance ◽  
Malpighian Tubules ◽  
Shunt Resistance ◽  
Transport Pathways ◽  
Principal Cells

Principal cells of the Malpighian tubule of the yellow fever mosquito were studied with the methods of two-electrode voltage clamp (TEVC). Intracellular voltage ( V pc) was −86.7 mV, and input resistance ( R pc) was 388.5 kΩ ( n = 49 cells). In six cells, Ba2+ (15 mM) had negligible effects on V pc, but it increased R pc from 325.3 to 684.5 kΩ ( P< 0.001). In the presence of Ba2+, leucokinin-VIII (1 μM) increased V pc to −101.8 mV ( P < 0.001) and reduced R pc to 340.2 kΩ ( P < 0.002). Circuit analysis yields the following: basolateral membrane resistance, 652.0 kΩ; apical membrane resistance, 340.2 kΩ; shunt resistance ( R sh), 344.3 kΩ; transcellular resistance, 992.2 kΩ. The fractional resistance of the apical membrane (0.35) and the ratio of transcellular resistance and R sh (3.53) agree closely with values obtained by cable analysis in isolated perfused tubules and confirm the usefulness of TEVC methods in single principal cells of the intact Malpighian tubule. Dinitrophenol (0.1 mM) reversibly depolarized V pc from −94.3 to −10.7 mV ( P< 0.001) and reversibly increased R pc from 412 to 2,879 kΩ ( P < 0.001), effects that were duplicated by cyanide (0.3 mM). Significant effects of metabolic inhibition on voltage and resistance suggest a role of ATP in electrogenesis and the maintenance of conductive transport pathways.

A study of the Malpighian tubules of the plecopteran nymph Paragnetina media (Walker) (Plecoptera: Perlidae) by light, scanning electron, and transmission electron microscopy

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (9) ◽  
pp. 1566-1575 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. N. Kapoor
Keyword(s):  
Malpighian Tubule ◽  
Stellate Cells ◽  
Basal Membrane ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Distal Segment ◽  
Malpighian Tubules ◽  
Primary Cells ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Total Cell Population ◽  
Paragnetina Media

The present study concerns the structural details of the Malpighian tubules in the nymph of the stonefly Paragnetina media. There is no external segmentation except for a distal short hyaline segment. The tubules are composed of two cell types: primary and stellate. Primary cells in the proximal and middle portions of the tubule have short infoldings of the basal membrane and the cytosol is packed with laminate spheres. Cells of the distal segment possess long and tightly packed membrane folds but are devoid of laminate spheres. The stellate cells are sparsely distributed in the middle region and make up 12% of the total cell population in the Malpighian tubule; they lack laminate spheres. Long processes of the stellate cells extend between adjacent primary cells to the luminal and outer surfaces of the tubule.

Evidence that aquaporin-1 mediates NaCl-induced water flux across descending vasa recta

1997 ◽  
Vol 272 (5) ◽  
pp. F587-F596 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. L. Pallone ◽  
B. K. Kishore ◽  
S. Nielsen ◽  
P. Agre ◽  
M. A. Knepper
Keyword(s):  
Water Permeability ◽  
Water Movement ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Water Channel ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Aquaporin 1 ◽  
Vasa Recta ◽  
Water Efflux

Outer medullary descending vasa recta (OMDVR) were perfused in vitro, and volume efflux was measured by driving water movement with transmural gradients of NaCl or albumin. Consistent with mediation by water channels, p-chloromercuribenzenesulfonic acid (pCMBS) markedly inhibited volume flux induced by NaCl. Dithiothreitol reversed the inhibition, pCMBS did not significantly alter water flux induced by albumin. Osmotic water permeability (Pf) of the pCMBS-sensitive pathway of glutaraldehyde-fixed and nonfixed OMDVR was 1,102 +/- 449 and 1,257 +/- 718 microns/s (means +/- SD), respectively. pCMBS reduced Pf to near zero, whereas diffusional water permeability in the same vessels was only slightly inhibited. Immunoreactive aquaporin-1 (AQP1) measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in collagenase-treated and untreated OMDVR was 5.2 +/- 1.0 and 4.2 +/- 0.4 fmol/mm, respectively, values that account well for the experimental Pf. We conclude that OMDVR water flux driven by NaCl gradients is most likely mediated by the AQP1 water channel and that NaCl and urea gradients drive water efflux in vivo by this route.

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