Functional expression of rat renal cortex taurine transporter in Xenopus laevis oocytes: adaptive regulation by dietary manipulation

Renal brush border taurine transport adapts to changes in the dietary intake of sulfur amino acids with increased rates after dietary restriction and reduced transport after dietary surplus. The Xenopus laevis oocyte expression system was used to define the renal adaptive response to dietary manipulation. Injection of poly(A)+ RNA isolated from rat kidney cortex resulted in a time- and dose-dependent increase in NaCl-taurine cotransport in oocytes. The Km of the expressed taurine transporter was 22.5 microM. In oocytes, injection of 40 ng of poly(A)+ RNA from kidneys of low taurine diet (LTD)-fed rats elicited 2-fold the taurine uptake of normal taurine diet (NTD)-fed rats and >3-fold the uptake of high taurine diet (HTD)-fed rats. Northern blots of rat kidneys using a riboprobe derived from an rB16a (rat brain taurine transporter) subclone revealed 6.2- and 2.4-kb transcripts, the abundance of which were increased or decreased in LTD- or HTD-fed rats, respectively, as compared with NTD-fed rats. A approximately 70-kD protein was detected by Western blot using an antibody derived from a synthetic peptide corresponding to a conserved intracellular segment of rB16a. The abundance of the approximately 70-kD protein was increased or decreased in LTD- or HTD-fed rats, respectively, as compared with NTD-fed rats. In conclusion, expression of the rat renal taurine transporter is regulated by dietary taurine at the level of mRNA accumulation and protein synthesis.