Effect of SITS on organic anion transport in the rabbit kidney cortical slice

The effect of SITS (4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyano-2,2'-disulfonic stilbene) on the transport of organic ions in the rabbit kidney cortical slice was studied. SITS at a concentration of 10(-4) to 10(-3) M significantly decreased the slice-to-medium (S/M) concentration ratio of the organic anions p-aminohippurate (PAH), and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetate, but had no significant effect on that of the organic cation tetraethylammonium. The S/M ratio of PAH decreased to 0.52 +/- 0.03 (SE) in the presence of 10(-3) M SITS. The inhibition of PAH uptake caused by SITS was reversed in the presence of 0.5% bovine serum albumin in the medium. SITS at a concentration of 10(-4) M had no significant effect on the efflux of PAH. However, there was a small increase in PAH efflux at a concentration of 10(-3) M SITS. A Lineweaver-Burk analysis of the data indicates that SITS competitively inhibits PAH uptake and that SITS has a Ki value of 2.3 X 10(-4) M. SITS had no effect on the tissue water content, [14C]inulin space, or intracellular Na and K concentrations. It is suggested that the primary effect of SITS is to inhibit the entry of organic anions from the medium into the cell across the basolateral membrane.