title: Regulation of renal amino acid transporters during metabolic acidosis.
abstract: The kidney plays a major role in acid-base homeostasis by adapting the excretion of acid equivalents to dietary intake and metabolism. Urinary acid excretion is mediated by the secretion of protons and titratable acids, particularly ammonia. NH(3) is synthesized in proximal tubule cells from glutamine taken up via specific amino acid transporters. We tested whether kidney amino acid transporters are regulated in mice in which metabolic acidosis was induced with NH(4)Cl. Blood gas and urine analysis confirmed metabolic acidosis. Real-time RT-PCR was performed to quantify the mRNAs of 16 amino acid transporters. The mRNA of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) was quantified as positive control for the regulation and that of GAPDH, as internal standard. In acidosis, the mRNA of kidney system N amino acid transporter SNAT3 (SLC38A3/SN1) showed a strong induction similar to that of PEPCK, whereas all other tested mRNAs encoding glutamine or glutamate transporters were unchanged or reduced in abundance. At the protein level, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry demonstrated an increased abundance of SNAT3 and reduced expression of the basolateral cationic amino acid/neutral amino acid exchanger subunit y(+)-LAT1 (SLC7A7). SNAT3 was localized to the basolateral membrane of the late proximal tubule S3 segment in control animals, whereas its expression was extended to the earlier S2 segment of the proximal tubule during acidosis. Our results suggest that the selective regulation of SNAT3 and y(+)LAT1 expression may serve a major role in the renal adaptation to acid secretion and thus for systemic acid-base balance.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology and Center for Integrative Human Physiology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moret
authors.forename: Mital H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Dave
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: Jean X
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Francois
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Verrey
authors.forename: Carsten A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Wagner
mesh_terms: D000141:Acidosis, Renal Tubular / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology*; D027182:Amino Acid Transport System y+ / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D027241:Amino Acid Transport System y+L; D026905:Amino Acid Transport Systems / Q000502:physiology*; D026923:Amino Acid Transport Systems, Basic / Q000378:metabolism; D000643:Ammonium Chloride; D000818:Animals; D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism*; D050580:Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D027301:Fusion Regulatory Protein 1, Light Chains; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000378:metabolism*; D027283:Large Neutral Amino Acid-Transporter 1 / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D027182:Amino Acid Transport System y+; D027241:Amino Acid Transport System y+L; D026905:Amino Acid Transport Systems; D026923:Amino Acid Transport Systems, Basic; D050580:Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 3; D027301:Fusion Regulatory Protein 1, Light Chains; D007527:Isoenzymes; D027283:Large Neutral Amino Acid-Transporter 1; C518286:SLC7A8 protein, mouse; C493399:Slc1a1 protein, mouse; C518287:Slc7a7 protein, mouse; C499488:Slc7a9 protein, mouse; D000643:Ammonium Chloride; D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase; C089384:N-acetyltransferase 1