Functional comparison of renal Na-K-Cl cotransporters between distant species

2003 ◽  
Vol 284 (2) ◽  
pp. C365-C370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Édith Gagnon ◽  
Biff Forbush ◽  
Luc Caron ◽  
Paul Isenring

In the shark (sa), two variants of the renal Na-K-Cl cotransporter (saNKCC2A and saNKCC2F) are produced by alternative splicing of the second transmembrane domain (tm2). In mammals, these splice variants, as well as a third variant (NKCC2B), are spatially distributed along the thick ascending limb of Henle and exhibit divergent kinetic behaviors. To test whether different tm2 in saNKCC2 are also associated with different kinetic phenotypes, we examined the ion dependence of86Rb influx for shark and rabbit splice variants expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. We found that, in both species, A forms have higher cation affinities than F forms. In regard to Cl affinity, however, the A-F difference was more pronounced in rabbit, and the relationship between transport activity and Cl concentration was not always sigmoidal. These results show that the tm2of saNKCC2 is, as in rabbit, important for Cl transport, and they suggest that the ability of the distal NKCC2-expressing segment to extract Cl from the luminal fluid differs among species. We have also found that the renal NKCC2 of distant vertebrates share similar affinities for cations. This finding points to the existence of highly conserved residues that mediate the kinetic behavior of the NKCC2 splice variants.

Botany ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (12) ◽  
pp. 840-849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Powles ◽  
Katharine Sedivy-Haley ◽  
Eric Chapman ◽  
Kenton Ko

Rhomboid serine proteases are grouped into three main types — secretases, presenilin-like associated rhomboid-like (PARL) proteases, and “inactive” rhomboid proteins. Although the three rhomboid groups are distinct, the different types are likely to operate within the same cell or compartment, such as observed in the plastids of Arabidopsis. There are four distinct plastid rhomboid genes at play in Arabidopsis plastids, two for active types (At1g25290 and At5g25752) and two for inactive forms (At1g74130 and At1g74140). The number of working plastid rhomboids is further increased by alternative splicing, as reported for At1g25290. To understand how the plastid rhomboid system works, it is necessary to identify all rhomboid forms in play. To this end, this study was designed to examine the alternative splicing activities of At1g74130, one of the two genes encoding proteolytically “inactive” plastid rhomboids. The exon mapping and DNA sequencing results obtained here indicate the presence of three prominent alternative splice variants in the At1g74130 transcript population. The dominant splice variant, L, encodes the full-length protein. The other two splice variants, M and S, produce proteins lacking sections from the carboxyl transmembrane domain region. The splice variants M and S appear to be at levels with functional potential and appear to adjust relative to each other during development and in response to changes in the level of Tic40, a component of the plastid translocon. The splice variant proteins themselves exhibit different characteristics with respect to rhomboid protein–substrate interactions. These differences were observed in bacterial co-expression pull-down assays and in yeast mitochondrial studies. When considered together, the data suggest that the alternative splicing of At1g74130 bears functional significance in Arabidopsis and is likely to be part of a mechanism for diversifying plastid rhomboid function.


2009 ◽  
Vol 296 (3) ◽  
pp. C570-C582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Leuthold ◽  
Bruno Hagenbuch ◽  
Nilufar Mohebbi ◽  
Carsten A. Wagner ◽  
Peter J. Meier ◽  
...  

Organic anion transporting polypeptides (humans OATPs, rodents Oatps) are expressed in most mammalian tissues and mediate cellular uptake of a wide variety of amphipathic organic compounds such as bile salts, steroid conjugates, oligopeptides, and a large list of drugs, probably by acting as anion exchangers. In the present study we aimed to investigate the role of the extracellular pH on the transport activity of nine human and four rat OATPs/Oatps. Furthermore, we aimed to test the concept that OATP/Oatp transport activity is accompanied by extrusion of bicarbonate. By using amphibian Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing OATPs/Oatps and mammalian cell lines stably transfected with OATPs/Oatps, we could demonstrate that in all OATPs/Oatps investigated, with the exception of OATP1C1, a low extracellular pH stimulated transport activity. This stimulation was accompanied by an increased substrate affinity as evidenced by lower apparent Michaelis-Menten constant values. OATP1C1 is lacking a highly conserved histidine in the third transmembrane domain, which was shown by site-directed mutagenesis to be critically involved in the pH dependency of OATPs/Oatps. Using online intracellular pH measurements in OATP/Oatp-transfected Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO)-K1 cells, we could demonstrate the presence of a 4,4′-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2′-disulfonic acid-sensitive chloride/bicarbonate exchanger in CHO-K1 cells and that OATP/Oatp-mediated substrate transport is paralleled by bicarbonate efflux. We conclude that the pH dependency of OATPs/Oatps may lead to a stimulation of substrate transport in an acidic microenvironment and that the OATP/Oatp-mediated substrate transport into cells is generally compensated or accompanied by bicarbonate efflux.


2001 ◽  
Vol 280 (4) ◽  
pp. F574-F582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Consuelo Plata ◽  
Patricia Meade ◽  
Amy Hall ◽  
Rick C. Welch ◽  
Norma Vázquez ◽  
...  

In the absence of vasopressin, medullary thick ascending limb cells express a K+-independent, furosemide-sensitive Na+-Cl− cotransporter that is inhibited by hypertonicity. The murine renal specific Na+-K+-2 Cl− cotransporter gene ( SLC12A1) gives rise to six alternatively spliced isoforms. Three feature a long COOH-terminal domain that encodes the butmetanide-sensitive Na+-K+-2 Cl−cotransporter (BSC1–9/NKCC2), and three with a short COOH-terminal domain, known as mBSC1-A4, B4, or F4 (19). Here we have determined the functional characteristics of mBSC1-A4, as expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. When incubated at normal oocyte osmolarity (∼200 mosmol/kgH2O), mBSC1–4-injected oocytes do not express significant Na+ uptake over H2O-injected controls, and immunohistochemical analysis shows that the majority of mBSC1–4 protein is in the oocyte cytoplasm and not at the plasma membrane. In contrast, when mBSC1–4 oocytes are exposed to hypotonicity (∼100 mosmol/kgH2O), a significant increase in Na+uptake but not in 86Rb+ uptake is observed. The increased Na+ uptake is Cl− dependent, furosemide sensitive, and cAMP sensitive but K+independent. Sodium uptake increases with decreasing osmolarity between 120 and 70 mosmol/kgH2O ( r = 0.95, P < 0.01). Immunohistochemical analysis shows that in hypotonic conditions mBSC1-A4 protein is expressed in the plasma membrane. These studies indicate that the mBSC1-A4 isoform of the SLC12A1 gene encodes a hypotonically activated, cAMP- and furosemide-sensitive Na+-Cl− cotransporter. Thus it is possible that alternative splicing of the BSC1 gene could provide the molecular mechanism enabling the Na+-Cl−-to-Na+-K+-2Cl−switching in thick ascending limb cells.


2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (6) ◽  
pp. 3880-3892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing Ouyang ◽  
Marie Goeritz ◽  
Ronald M. Harris-Warrick

We cloned 10 full-length variants of PIIH, the gene for Ih from the spiny lobster, Panulirus interruptus, using reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). This gene shows a significant amount of alternative splicing in the S3–S4 and S4–S5 linkers, in the P-loop and the entire S6 transmembrane domain, in the cyclic nucleotide binding domain (CNBD), and near the 3′ end of the gene. Functional expression of seven splice variants in Xenopus oocytes generated slowly activating hyperpolarization-activated inward currents, which were blocked by the Ih channel blockers CsCl and ZD7288. The different splice variants had markedly varying activation kinetics and voltage dependence of activation. Bath application of 8-Br-cAMP shifted the V1/2 to more positive potentials and accelerated the activation kinetics in an isoform-specific manner. Two variants containing a segment with an ER-retention motif in the S4-S5 loop did not produce currents in oocytes. Overexpression of one splice variant, PIIH ABS -I, in pyloric dilator (PD) neurons in the lobster stomatogastric ganglion produced an average threefold increase in Ih without evoking a compensatory increase in IA. The voltage for half-maximal activation of Ih in PIIH ABS-I-expressing PDs was shifted in the depolarizing direction by 9 mV, whereas the slope factor decreased by 3.8 mV. Moreover, its activation kinetics were significantly faster than in control PDs. PIIH ABS-I overexpression enhanced PD neuron rhythmic firing in an amplitude-dependent manner above a minimal threshold two- to threefold increase in amplitude.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Elisa Innocenzi ◽  
Ida Cariati ◽  
Emanuela De Domenico ◽  
Erika Tiberi ◽  
Giovanna D’Arcangelo ◽  
...  

Aerobic exercise (AE) is known to produce beneficial effects on brain health by improving plasticity, connectivity, and cognitive functions, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are still limited. Neurexins (Nrxns) are a family of presynaptic cell adhesion molecules that are important in synapsis formation and maturation. In vertebrates, three-neurexin genes (NRXN1, NRXN2, and NRXN3) have been identified, each encoding for α and β neurexins, from two independent promoters. Moreover, each Nrxns gene (1–3) has several alternative exons and produces many splice variants that bind to a large variety of postsynaptic ligands, playing a role in trans-synaptic specification, strength, and plasticity. In this study, we investigated the impact of a continuous progressive (CP) AE program on alternative splicing (AS) of Nrxns on two brain regions: frontal cortex (FC) and hippocampus. We showed that exercise promoted Nrxns1–3 AS at splice site 4 (SS4) both in α and β isoforms, inducing a switch from exon-excluded isoforms (SS4−) to exon-included isoforms (SS4+) in FC but not in hippocampus. Additionally, we showed that the same AE program enhanced the expression level of other genes correlated with synaptic function and plasticity only in FC. Altogether, our findings demonstrated the positive effect of CP AE on FC in inducing molecular changes underlying synaptic plasticity and suggested that FC is possibly a more sensitive structure than hippocampus to show molecular changes.


Open Medicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-223
Author(s):  
Xin Song ◽  
Shidong Zhang ◽  
Run Tian ◽  
Chuanjun Zheng ◽  
Yuge Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background CKLF Like Marvel Transmembrane Domain Containing 1 (CMTM1) plays a role in breast cancer and lung cancer, but studies on the occurrence and development of CMTM1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been reported. Methods The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to detect CMTM1 expression in HCC tissues. The relationship between CMTM1 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics of HCC patients was analyzed by chi-square test, and the relationship between CMTM1 expression and the prognosis of HCC patients was tested by the Kaplan–Meier model. Results Bioinformatics analysis showed that the mRNA expression of CMTM1 was upregulated in HCC tissues, and low expression of CMTM1 is associated with longer disease-free survival in patients with HCC. Similarly, the survival time of HCC patients in CMTM1 high expression group was significantly shorter than that in CMTM1 low expression group. IHC detection indicated that CMTM1 protein was highly expressed in both HCC and adjacent non-tumor tissues, with a positive expression in 84% (63/75) of HCC tissues and 89.3% (67/75) of adjacent non-tumor tissues. Moreover, CMTM1 expression was related to family history and TNM stage of HCC patients (P < 0.05), but had no relationship with other clinicopathological characteristics. The survival analysis based on IHC results showed that the prognosis of HCC patients in CMTM1 negative group was significantly poorer than that in CMTM1 positive group (P < 0.05). Conclusion CMTM1 has a high expression in HCC tissues and is related to the prognosis of HCC patients.


2021 ◽  
pp. 247255522110041
Author(s):  
Raffaella Cinquetti ◽  
Francesca Guia Imperiali ◽  
Salvatore Bozzaro ◽  
Daniele Zanella ◽  
Francesca Vacca ◽  
...  

Membrane proteins are involved in different physiological functions and are the target of pharmaceutical and abuse drugs. Xenopus laevis oocytes provide a powerful heterologous expression system for functional studies of these proteins. Typical experiments investigate transport using electrophysiology and radiolabeled uptake. A two-electrode voltage clamp is suitable only for electrogenic proteins, and uptake measurements require the existence of radiolabeled substrates and adequate laboratory facilities. Recently, Dictyostelium discoideum Nramp1 and NrampB were characterized using multidisciplinary approaches. NrampB showed no measurable electrogenic activity, and it was investigated in Xenopus oocytes by acquiring confocal images of the quenching of injected fluorophore calcein. This method is adequate to measure the variation in emitted fluorescence, and thus transporter activity indirectly, but requires long experimental procedures to collect statistically consistent data. Considering that optimal expression of heterologous proteins lasts for 48–72 h, a slow acquiring process requires the use of more than one batch of oocytes to complete the experiments. Here, a novel approach to measure substrate uptake is reported. Upon injection of a fluorophore, oocytes were incubated with the substrate and the transport activity measured, evaluating fluorescence quenching in a microplate reader. The technique permits the testing of tens of oocytes in different experimental conditions simultaneously, and thus the collection of significant statistical data for each batch, saving time and animals. The method was tested with different metal transporters (SLC11), DMT1, DdNramp1, and DdNrampB, and verified with the peptide transporter PepT1 (SLC15). Comparison with traditional methods (uptake, two-electrode voltage clamp) and with quenching images acquired by fluorescence microscopy confirmed its efficacy.


Author(s):  
Lovel Kukuljan ◽  
Franci Gabrovšek ◽  
Matthew D. Covington ◽  
Vanessa E. Johnston

AbstractUnderstanding the dynamics and distribution of CO2 in the subsurface atmosphere of carbonate karst massifs provides important insights into dissolution and precipitation processes, the role of karst systems in the global carbon cycle, and the use of speleothems for paleoclimate reconstructions. We discuss long-term microclimatic observations in a passage of Postojna Cave, Slovenia, focusing on high spatial and temporal variations of pCO2. We show (1) that the airflow through the massif is determined by the combined action of the chimney effect and external winds and (2) that the relationship between the direction of the airflow, the geometry of the airflow pathways, and the position of the observation point explains the observed variations of pCO2. Namely, in the terminal chamber of the passage, the pCO2 is low and uniform during updraft, when outside air flows to the site through a system of large open galleries. When the airflow reverses direction to downdraft, the chamber is fed by inlets with diverse flow rates and pCO2, which enter via small conduits and fractures embedded in a CO2-rich vadose zone. If the spatial distribution of inlets and outlets produces minimal mixing between low and high pCO2 inflows, high and persistent gradients in pCO2 are formed. Such is the case in the chamber, where vertical gradients of up to 1000 ppm/m are observed during downdraft. The results presented in this work provide new insights into the dynamics and composition of the subsurface atmosphere and demonstrate the importance of long-term and spatially distributed observations.


1994 ◽  
Vol 302 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Inukai ◽  
T Asano ◽  
H Katagiri ◽  
M Anai ◽  
M Funaki ◽  
...  

A mutated GLUT1 glucose transporter, a Trp-388, 412 mutant whose tryptophans 388 and 412 were both replaced by leucines, was constructed by site-directed mutagenesis and expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Glucose transport activity was decreased to approx. 30% in the Trp-388, 412 mutant compared with that in the wild type, a similar decrease in transport activity had been observed previously in the Trp-388 mutant and the Trp-412 mutant which had leucine at 388 and 412 respectively. Cytochalasin B labelling of the Trp-388 mutant was only decreased rather than abolished, a result similar to that obtained previously for the Trp-412 mutant. Cytochalasin B labelling was finally abolished completely in the Trp-388, 412 mutant, while cytochalasin B binding to this mutant was decreased to approx. 30% of that of the wild-type GLUT1 at the concentration used for photolabelling. This level of binding is thought to be adequate to detect labelling, assuming that the labelling efficiency of these transporters is similar. These findings suggest that cytochalasin B binds to the transmembrane domain of the glucose transporter in the vicinity of helix 10-11, and is inserted covalently by photoactivation at either the 388 or the 412 site.


2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (13) ◽  
pp. 4320-4330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arneet L. Saltzman ◽  
Yoon Ki Kim ◽  
Qun Pan ◽  
Matthew M. Fagnani ◽  
Lynne E. Maquat ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Alternative splicing (AS) can regulate gene expression by introducing premature termination codons (PTCs) into spliced mRNA that subsequently elicit transcript degradation by the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway. However, the range of cellular functions controlled by this process and the factors required are poorly understood. By quantitative AS microarray profiling, we find that there are significant overlaps among the sets of PTC-introducing AS events affected by individual knockdown of the three core human NMD factors, Up-Frameshift 1 (UPF1), UPF2, and UPF3X/B. However, the levels of some PTC-containing splice variants are less or not detectably affected by the knockdown of UPF2 and/or UPF3X, compared with the knockdown of UPF1. The intron sequences flanking the affected alternative exons are often highly conserved, suggesting important regulatory roles for these AS events. The corresponding genes represent diverse cellular functions, and surprisingly, many encode core spliceosomal proteins and assembly factors. We further show that conserved, PTC-introducing AS events are enriched in genes that encode core spliceosomal proteins. Where tested, altering the expression levels of these core spliceosomal components affects the regulation of PTC-containing splice variants from the corresponding genes. Together, our results show that AS-coupled NMD can have different UPF factor requirements and is likely to regulate many general components of the spliceosome. The results further implicate general spliceosomal components in AS regulation.


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