Kinetics of the sodium-dependent glutamine transporter in human intestinal cell confluent monolayers

The intestinal epithelium metabolism of glutamine plays a critical role in inter-organ nitrogen flow. Although it is known that glutamine is the primary oxidative energy source and nucleotide precursor in intestinal cells, the luminal uptake of glutamine by the apical surface of enterocytes is poorly understood. In this study we have uncovered the sodium-dependent transporter system responsible for L-glutamine uptake by the apical membrane of a human intestinal epithelial cell line. The sodium-dependent Michaelis constant (Km) = 247 +/- 45 microM glutamine, and Jmax = 4.44 +/- 0.65 x 10(-9) mole min-1(mg protein)-1 (37 degrees C). Glutamine shares the transporter with alanine, as demonstrated by unlabeled glutamine inhibition of [3H]alanine uptake kinetics with a purely competitive-type inhibition pattern, and glutamine inhibition Ki = 205 +/- 18 microM by Dixon analysis. The inhibition pattern for a series of amino acid analogs indicated that this intestinal apical membrane sodium-dependent transporter for glutamine is distinct from any other transport system found in membranes of non-intestinal cells.