Metabolic and membrane aspects of gastric H+ transport

Metabolic properties of dog gastric mucosa, investigated by substrate level measurements, implicate the Krebs cycle as the major energy-yielding metabolic pathway but are equivocal in terms of an ATP-based H+ secretion. Purification of gastric membranes by centrifugation and free flow electrophoresis results in a class of membrane vesicles enriched in K+-ATPase and capable of ATP-energized H+ uptake. Immunohistochemistry shows these to be derived from the parietal cell. H+ uptake by the vesicles is accompanied by K+ efflux, and movement of either ion is not potential-coupled. The simplest interpretation of these transport studies is uptake of KCl by the vesicles by passive diffusion followed by active H+:K+ exchange. In some respects, however, this model fails to conform to the expectations from in vitro studies. It may be, therefore, that another pump (i.e., redox) or another membrane component (i.e., Cl- conductance) is lost during purification. The properties of the vesicles are such, however, as to establish their role in H+ secretion by the stomach.