Membrane and intracellular hydrolysis of peptides: differentiation, role and interrelations with transport

The possible relative importance of the membrane and intracellular peptidases of the enterocytes in splitting dietary peptides to amino acids has been analysed. On the anoxic criterion, membrane hydrolysis was found to be predominant. Model experiments revealed cooperative interactions between the membrane enzyme and the coupled transport system. This cooperativity allows the main characteristics of oligomer transport to be described in terms of membrane digestion. Comparison of the behaviour of membrane and intracellular peptidase under different conditions has shown that the former are largely involved in digestion and the latter in intracellular metabolism. It is suggested that the efficiency of the membrane system is high enough to account for the hydrolysis of protein, especially taking into account the stimulation of enzyme processes in the brush border that occurs after ingestion of protein and carbohydrate. A sequential model based on the concept of three interacting enzyme layers (glycocalyx, lipoprotein membrane and cytosol) is presented.