The iodide channel of the thyroid. II. Selective iodide conductance inserted into liposomes

An iodide channel has been previously identified in the plasma membrane of bovine throcytes [Golstein et al., Am. J. Physiol. 263 (Cell Physiol. 32): C590-C597, 1992]. The plasma membrane proteins were solubilized and ultrafiltered, and the protein fraction collected above 100 kDa was inserted in liposomes. Voltage-sensitive uptake of radiolabeled I- by these proteoliposomes was studied. To this end, an outward I- gradient was set up by loading the proteoliposomes with KI and removing extraliposomal I-. I- exit from the proteoliposome induces an inside positive membrane potential, which leads to the uptake of 125I- added to the incubation medium. This uptake was abolished by valinomycin, which in the presence of K+ short circuits the liposomal membrane potential, demonstrating the conductive nature of this uptake. A double reciprocal plot of I- influx over I- concentration suggests the existence of a single population of channels in these proteoliposomes with a Michaelis-Menten constant for I- of approximately 9 microM. When the proteoliposomes were loaded with KCl or KSCN instead of I-, no conductive uptake occurred anymore, suggesting that these anions are unable to diffuse through the I- conductance, hence do not generate a diffusion potential. I- uptake by KI-loaded proteoliposomes was not inhibited in the presence of a 1,000-fold excess of extraliposomal Cl- but was completely inhibited by a 1,000-fold excess of extraliposomal SCN-, indicating that Cl- does not permeate the I- channel, whereas SCN- inhibits it. SCN- and flufenamate were both shown to be competitive inhibitors of the I- channel with an inhibitor constant of approximately 10 and 750 microM, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)