The apical Cl/HCO3 exchanger of beta intercalated cells

There are two types of intercalated cells of the renal collecting duct; one secretes H+ and the other secretes HCO3-. The H(+)-secreting form has an apical vacuolar H(+)-ATPase and a basolateral Cl/HCO3 exchanger that cross-reacts with antibodies to band 3, the product of the AE1 gene. The HCO3(-)-secreting form has a basolateral vacuolar H(+)-ATPase and an apical Cl/HCO3 exchanger, whose identity has not been established previously. Apical membrane vesicles of beta intercalated cells purified from rabbit kidney cortex contain both an electroneutral Cl/HCO3 exchange activity and polypeptides that react with antibodies to band 3 on Western blots. Furthermore, both primary cultures of HCO3(-)-secreting intercalated cells and an immortalized cell line derived from these cells express AE1 and have an apical Cl/HCO3 exchanger. Apical membranes purified from these cells contain a 100-kDa polypeptide that cross-reacts with antibody to the cytoplasmic domain of band 3. These data suggest that the apical Cl/HCO3 exchanger of HCO3(-)-secreting intercalated cells is band 3.