Localization and regulation of the rat renal na+-k+-2cl- cotransporter, bsc-1. Ecelbarger, Carolyn A., James Terris, John R. Hoyer, S[stod]oren Nielsen, J. B. Wade, and Mark A. Knepper. Laboratory of Kidney and Electrolyte Metabolism, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD; Department of Physiology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD; Dept. of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA; Dept. of Cell Biology, Institute of Anatomy, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark; and Dept. of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
APStracts 3:0094F, 1996.
To investigate the role of the thick ascending limb (TAL) Na+-K+-2Cl- cotransporter in regulation of water excretion, we have prepared a peptide-derived polyclonal antibody based on the cloned cDNA sequence of the rat type-1 bumetanide-sensitive cotransporter, BSC-1 (also termed "NKCC-2"). Immunoblots revealed a single broad 161 kDa band in membrane fractions of rat renal outer medulla and cortex, but not from rat colon or parotid gland. A similar protein was labeled in mouse kidney. Immunoperoxidase immunohistochemistry in rat kidney revealed labeling restricted to the medullary and cortical TALs. Because long-term regulation of urinary concentrating ability may depend on regulation of Na+-K+-2Cl- cotransporter abundance, we used immunoblotting to evaluate the effects of several in vivo factors on expression levels of BSC-1 protein in rat kidney outer medulla. Chronic oral saline loading with 0.16 M NaCl markedly increased BSC-1 abundance. However, long-term vasopressin infusion or thirsting of rats did not affect BSC-1 abundance. Chronic furosemide infusion caused a 9 kDa upward shift in apparent molecular weight and an apparent increase in expression level. These results support the previous identification of BSC-1 as the TAL Na+-K+-2Cl- transporter and demonstrate that the expression of this transporter is regulated.

Received 16 January 1996; accepted in final form 9 May 1996.
APS Manuscript Number F10-6.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Renal Fluid Electrolyte
Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 28 May 96