Membrane apical

T. Hodder, P. Crewther, M. Lett, and co-workers, "Apical Membrane Antigen 1 A potential Malaria Vaccine Candidate," 7th Malaria Meeting of British Society ofParasilolgy, London, Sept. 19—21,1995. 

Airway surface liquid (ASL) is the very thin fluid layer (<7 (llM) maintained at the apical membrane of airway epithelia. ASL thickness is maintained by a tight control of fluid reabsorption and/or secretion, mediated by sodium and/or chloride channels. 

CFTR has a single-channel conductance of about 8 pS. It is present in the apical membranes of many epithelia. Its mutation leads to the potentially lethal disease cystic fibrosis. In addition to acting as a chloride channel, CFTR is also thought to regulate, e.g., the epithelial sodium channel ENaC, a molecularly unknown outwardly-rectifying chloride channel, and possibly also potassium channels and water channels. Some of these potential regulatory processes, however, are controversial. CFTR also acts as a receptor for bacteria. 

ENaC is located in the apical membrane of polarized epithelial cells where it mediates Na+ transport across tight epithelia [3], The most important tight epithelia expressing ENaC include the distal nephron of the kidney, the respiratory epithelium, and the distal colon. The basic function of ENaC in polarized epithelial cells is to allow vectorial transcellular transport of Na+ ions. This transepithelial Na+ transport through a cell involves... 

ENaC mediates Na+ entry from the tubule lumen at the apical membrane and the Na+/K+ ATPase extrudes Na+ at the basolateral side. K+ channels are present on the basolateral and apical membrane. K+ channels at the apical membrane mediate K+ secretion into the tubular lumen. 

In the tongue, ENaC is expressed in taste bud epithelial cells. The expression of a, (3 and y subunits at the apical membrane of taste buds is observed under low salt diet, known to greatly increase plasma aldosterone. This observation suggests that ENaC could play a significant role in the transduction of salt sensation. 

Renal diseases Mutations in KCNJ1 disiupt the function of Kirl.l in apical renal outer medulla of the kidney. The loss of tubular K+ channel function and impaired K+ flux could prevent apical membrane potassium recycling and lead to antenatal Bartter s syndrome. 

Osteoclasts are multinucleated cells derived from pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells. Osteoclasts possess an apical membrane domain, exhibiting a ruffled border that plays a key role in bone resorption (Figure 48-12). A proton-translocating ATPase expels protons across the ruffled border into the resorption area, which is the microenvironment of low pH shown in the figure. This lowers the local pH to 4.0 or less, thus increasing the solubility of hydroxyapatite and allowing demineralization to occur. Lysosomal acid proteases are released that digest the now accessible matrix proteins. 

Although a portion of the nutrients released from feedstuff s is absorbed by diffusing across the apical membrane of enterocytes or through the junctional complexes of adjacent enterocytes (paracellular absorption), the majority of nutrients are absorbed from the lumen of the GIT by carrier proteins that are inserted into the apical membrane of enterocytes and colonocytes. 

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a chloride (CF) channel characterised by chloride permeability and secretion, and also by the regulation of other epithelial ion channels (Eidelman et al, 2001). Mutations in the CFTR gene lead to an impaired or absent Cl conductance in the epithelial apical membrane, which leads to defective Cl secretion and absorption across the epithelium. Genistein (Illek et al, 1995 Weinreich et al, 1997) and other flavonoids (Illek and Fisher, 1998) have been shown, in different animal and tissue models, to activate wild-type CFTR and CFTR mutants by (Eidelman et al, 2001 Roomans, 2001 Suaud et al, 2002) ... 

Although a uniform nomenclature for Na /H exchanger isoforms has not yet been adopted, we will refer to the amiloride-sensitive type of Na" /H exchanger that is present in the basolateral membrane of epithelia (apical membrane of placental syncytiotrophoblast) and also widely distributed in non-epithelial cells as the sensitive-type. The relatively amiloride-resistant isoform present in apical mem-... 

Next, Reilly et al. [65] localized the Na /H exchanger gene product in renal epithelial cells where the distributions of the kinetic isoforms was well-established. The strategy was based on the observation that the resistant- and sensitive-types are restricted to the apical and basolateral membranes, respectively, in confluent LLC-PK]/Clone 4 cells [8]. Thus, if proteins encoded by the cloned cDNAs localized to the apical membrane this would indicate that they represent the resistant-type. Localization to the basolateral membrane would prove they were the sensitive-type and presence on both membranes would suggest that the two functional isoforms had identical primary structures. Na exchanger proteins were localized by... 

Narum, D. L., Welling, G. W., and Thomas, A. W., Ion-exchange-immuno-affinity purification of a recombinant baculovirus Plasmodium falciparum apical membrane antigen, PF83/AMA-1, /. Chromatogr. A, 657, 357, 1993. 

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