Glucose transport and metabolism in rabbit oviduct epithelial cells

The respiration of intact slices and of isolated epithelial cells from rabbit oviducts was compared. The oxygen consumption of the slices was approximately double that of the cells, but glucose was found to be a preferred substrate in each case. Isolated cells exhibited a Crabtree effect in that glucose concentrations greater than 5.55 mmol l-1 inhibited the respiratory rate. The oviduct epithelial cells grown in primary culture on collagen-impregnated filters formed a polarized monolayer, enabling the transepithelial movement of glucose to be studied under defined conditions. The cells, grown in this manner exhibited an asymmetry characteristic of an epithelium, transporting glucose preferentially in a basal to apical as opposed to apical to basal direction, and corresponding to net glucose transport into the oviduct lumen in vivo. Eighty-one per cent of glucose metabolized under these conditions could be accounted for by the formation of lactate, which appeared predominantly in the basal medium. Glucose was transported across the epithelial cells by facilitated diffusion in association with a smaller, passive component. The rate of glucose transport fell and the transepithelial resistance rose in cells removed and cultured 3 days after mating. The data indicate that rabbit oviduct epithelial cells may be grown as a polarized monolayer in primary culture and that endocrine changes induced in vivo persist under these conditions.