Functional characterization of a putative disaccharide membrane transporter in crustacean intestine

Transepithelial absorption of dietary sucrose in the American lobster, Homarus americanus, was investigated by mounting an intestine in a perfusion chamber to characterize mucosal to serosal (MS) (14)C-sucrose transport. These fluxes were measured by adding varying concentrations of (14)C-sucrose to the perfusate and monitoring their appearance in the bathing solution. Transepithelial (14)C-sucrose transport was the combination of a hyperbolic function of luminal concentration, following Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and apparent diffusion. The kinetic constants of the putative sucrose transporter were KM = 20.50 ± 6.00 µM and J max = 1.81 ± 0.50 pmol/cm(2) × min. Phloridzin, an inhibitor of Na(+)-dependent mucosal glucose transport, decreased MS (14)C-sucrose transport. Decreased MS (14)C-sucrose transport also occurred in the presence of luminal trehalose, a disaccharide containing D-glucose moieties. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) identified the chemical nature of radioactively labeled sugars in the bath following transepithelial transport. TLC revealed (14)C-sucrose was transported across the intestine largely intact with no (14)C-glucose or (14)C-fructose appearing in the serosal bath or luminal perfusate. Only 13% of bath radioactivity was volatile metabolites. Results suggest that disaccharide sugars can be transported intact across crustacean intestine and support the occurrence of a functional disaccharide membrane transporter.