Studies on the turnover of protein and glycoprotein components in rabbit kidney brush borders

The kinetics of incorporation of [(3)H]lysine and [(14)C]glucosamine into kidney brush borders were studied in vivo. The patterns of incorporation and loss of radioactivity from the brush borders were similar for both radioactively labelled precursors. Maximal labelling occurred 15-20h after injection of the precursors, and then the radioactivity declined rapidly until 50h. The radioactivity of brush borders then remained constant until 120h and thereafter declined slowly. These results are interpreted as indicating that two processes contribute to the turnover of brush-border components, pinocytosis and a slower turnover of the components of the microvilli. Studies of the distribution of radioactivity among glycoprotein components of the brush borders, separated by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, indicated that the membrane components turned over in unison.