Regulation of urea transporter proteins in kidney and liver

Due to urea's role in producing concentrated urine, its transport is critically important to the conservation of body water. Within the renal inner medulla, urea is transported by both facilitated and active urea transport mechanisms. The vasopressin-regulated, facilitated urea transporter (UT-A1) in the terminal inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) permits high rates of transepithelial urea transport and results in delivery of large quantities of urea into the deepest portions of the inner medulla where it is needed to maintain a high interstitial osmolality for maximal urine concentration. Four cDNA isoforms of the UT-A urea transporter family have been cloned. In addition, there are three secondary active, sodium-dependent, urea transport mechanisms in IMCD subsegments: (1) active urea secretion in the apical membrane of the terminal IMCD from untreated rats; (2) active urea absorption in the apical membrane of the initial IMCD from low-protein fed or hypercalcemic rats; and (3) active urea absorption in the basolateral membrane of the initial IMCD from furosemide-treated rats. This review will focus on integrative studies of the rapid and long-term regulation of urea transporters in rats with reduced urine concentrating ability. These studies led to the surprising result that the basal-facilitated urea permeability in the terminal IMCD and UT-A1 protein abundance are increased during in vivo conditions associated with an impaired urine concentrating ability. In contrast, there are two response patterns of active urea transporters: (1) hypercalcemia, a low-protein diet, and furosemide result in induction of active urea absorption in the initial IMCD, albeit by different mechanisms, and inhibition of active urea secretion in the terminal IMCD; while (2) water diuresis results in up-regulation of active urea secretion in the terminal IMCD without any active urea absorption in the initial IMCD. The first pattern contributes to the urine concentrating defect by increasing urea delivery to the base of the inner medulla, thus decreasing urea delivery distally to the inner medullary tip. The second response pattern will directly decrease urea content in the deep inner medulla. UT-A urea transporters are also expressed outside the kidney. Recent studies show that the liver has phloretin-inhibitable urea transport and that it occurs via a 49 kDa UT-A protein. When rats are made uremic, the abundance of this 49 kDa UT-A protein increases in the liver in vivo. This up-regulation of the 49 kDa UT-A protein may allow hepatocytes to increase ureagenesis to reduce the accumulation of ammonium and/or bicarbonate in uremia.