Isolation of luminal and antiluminal membranes from dog kidney cortex

Luminal (brush border) and antiluminal (basal-lateral) membranes were isolated from canine renal cortex. The enzyme marker for luminal membrane, alkaline phosphatase was enhanced 19-fold and the antiluminal enzyme marker, (Na+ + K+)-ATPase, was enhanced 22-fold in their respective membrane preparation, while the amount of cross contamination was minimal. Contamination of these preparations by enzyme markers for lysosomes, endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria was also low. Routinely, more than 50 mg membrane protein was isolated for each membrane. Electron micrographs showed that the membranes were uniform in size, appearance, and vesicular in nature. An examination of the orientation of these membranes showed that 76.5% of the antiluminal membranes and 86% of the luminal membranes were right-side out.