Sodium-coupled organic anion transport by Cancer borealis urinary bladder

Recently, p-aminohippurate (PAH) transport by rat renal basolateral membrane (BLM) vesicles was shown to be coupled indirectly to the Na+ gradient through PAH-glutarate exchange and Na(+)-glutarate cotransport. We have examined the mechanism of PAH transport in Cancer borealis urinary bladder, a simple flat-sheet epithelium that is functionally analogous to vertebrate renal proximal tubule. These experiments indicate that crab bladder is capable of both Na(+)-coupled glutarate uptake and PAH-glutarate exchange and that PAH uptake may be coupled to Na+ in the intact tissue. First, glutarate uptake by intact bladder was lithium sensitive, Na(+) dependent, and inhibited by other dicarboxylates. In flux chambers, the bladder exhibited net glutarate secretion and tissue accumulation occurred primarily from the basolateral side. Furthermore, both BLM and brush-border membrane (BBM) vesicles also exhibited lithium-sensitive Na(+)-coupled glutarate uptake. Second, imposition of an in greater than out glutarate gradient markedly stimulated PAH uptake by bladder BLM vesicles, demonstrating PAH-glutarate exchange. In contrast, exchange was absent in BBM vesicles. Third, in intact bladder tissue, external glutarate increased the steady-state tissue-to-medium ratio for PAH from 14 +/- 1 to 19 +/- 1.5. This increase was both lithium inhibitable and Na+ dependent. Thus not only do bladder BLM show all the elements needed for indirect coupling of PAH transport to the Na+ gradient, but indirect coupling to Na+ can also drive uphill PAH transport in the intact epithelium.