Renal tubular uptake of protein: effect of pH

The present study was performed to determine to what extent pH influences protein reabsorption in renal proximal tubule cells. Rat surface proximal tubules were microinfused in vivo with 125I-labelled albumin in buffer solutions at different pHs. Tubular uptake was determined as the difference between microinfused and urinary trichloroacetic acid-precipitable radioactivity. In separate experiments the tubular uptake was followed by electron microscope autoradiography. The results showed that the uptake at pH 4.5 and 6.0 was about 15% higher as compared to uptake at pH 7.4. Furthermore, the electron microscope autoradiography demonstrated that albumin is taken up by endocytosis at acid pH as under normal conditions.