Intestinal membrane enterocytes

In summary, Caco-2 cells studies strongly suggest that carotenoids interact with each other at the level of cellular uptake by the enterocyte. This phenomenon has been explained by the fact that the uptake of several carotenoids involves, at least in part, the same intestinal membrane transporter the scavenger receptor class B type ISR-BI (Reboul et al. 2005, van Bennekum et al. 2005, Moussa et al. 2008). 

INTESTINE Characterization of a membrane potassium ion conductance in intestinal secretory cells using whole cell patch-clamp and calcium-sensitive dye techniques, 192, 309 isolation of intestinal epithelial cells and evaluation of transport functions, 192, 324 isolation of enterocyte membranes, 192, 341 established intestinal cell lines as model systems for electrolyte transport studies, 192, 354 sodium chloride transport pathways in intestinal membrane vesicles, 192, 389 advantages and limitations of vesicles for the characterization and the kinetic analysis of transport systems, 192, 409 isolation and reconstitution of the sodium-de-pendent glucose transporter, 192, 438 calcium transport by intestinal epithelial cell basolateral membrane, 192, 448 electrical measurements in large intestine (including cecum, colon, rectum), 192, 459... 

Enterocytes of the intestinal membrane do not have transporters to carry polypeptides and proteins across the intestinal membrane, and they certainly cannot permeate through tight junctions because of their size. Also, polypeptides and proteins are substrates for luminal, brush border, and cytolytic enzymes. Therefore, as illustrated in Table 3, peptide/protein drugs are poorly absorbed across the GI tract. 

Fa is the fraction of dose absorbed into enterocytes from the intestinal lumen after oral administration. The two major processes involved are (1) the dissolution of solid particles into gastrointestinal (GI) fluid and (2) the permeation of molecules across intestinal membranes. 

Bundles of parallel actin filaments with uniform polarity. The microvilli of intestinal epithelial cells (enterocytes) are packed with actin filaments that are attached to the overlying plasma membrane through a complex composed of a 110-kD protein and calmodulin. The actin filaments are attached to each other through fimbrin (68 kD) and villin (95 kD). The actin bundles that emerge out of the roots of microvilli disperse horizontally to form a filamentous complex, the terminal web, in which several cytoskeletal proteins, spectrin (fodrin), myosin, actinin, and tropomyosin are present. Actin in the terminal web also forms a peripheral ring, which is associated with the plasma membrane on the lateral surfaces of the enterocyte (see Figure 5, p. 24). 

The third mucosal layer is that lining the entire length of the small intestine and which represents a continuous sheet of epithelial cells. These epithelial cells (or enterocytes) are columnar in shape, and the luminal cell membrane, upon which the microvilli reside, is called the apical cell membrane. Opposite this membrane is the basal (or basolateral) plasma membrane, which is separated from the lamina propria by a basement membrane. A sketch of this cell is shown in Fig. 5. The primary function of the villi is absorption. 

Precellular solute ionization dictates membrane permeability dependence on mucosal pH. Therefore, lumenal or cellular events that affect mucosal microclimate pH may alter the membrane transport of ionizable solutes. The mucosal microclimate pH is defined by a region in the neighborhood of the mucosal membrane in which pH is lower than in the lumenal fluid. This is the result of proton secretion by the enterocytes, for which outward diffusion is slowed by intestinal mucus. (In fact, mucosal secretion of any ion coupled with mucus-restricted diffusion will provide an ionic microclimate.) Important differences in solute transport between experimental systems may be due to differences in intestinal ions and mucus secretion. It might be anticipated that microclimate pH effects would be less pronounced in epithelial cell culture (devoid of goblet cells) transport studies than in whole intestinal tissue. 

The coupling of solute transport in the GI lumen with solute lumenal metabolism (homogeneous reaction) and membrane metabolism (heterogeneous reaction) has been discussed by Sinko et al. [54] and is more generally treated in Cussler s text [55], At the cellular level, solute metabolism can occur at the mucosal membrane, in the enterocyte cytosol, and in the endoplasmic reticulum (or microsomal compartment). For peptide drugs, the extent of hydrolysis by lumenal and membrane-bound peptidases reduces drug availability for intestinal absorption [56], Preferential hydrolysis (metabolic specificity) has been targeted for reconversion... 

Assessing the effect of the intestinal metabolism in the Peff as a membrane transport rate parameter is a methodological issue [7, 26, 34, 35, 49]. An evaluation of its influence has to include a study to establish which enzyme(s) is (are) involved and the site of metabolism in relation to the site of the measurements. Intracellular metabolism in the enterocyte, for instance by CYP 3A4 and di- and tri-... 

In an effort to address the poor membrane permeation of L-767,679, the benzyl ester pro-drug, L-775,318 was synthesized (Fig. 13.2) The latter compound exhibited significant lipophilicity (log P = 0.7) that was consistent with improved potential to cross the enterocyte membrane. However, this did not lead to a marked improvement in absorption potential (in the rat), as intestinal hydrolysis and counter-transport combined to prevent significant passage of the compound across Caco-2 cells and the rat gut. 

From the above, it is clear that the gut wall represents more than just a physical barrier to oral drug absorption. In addition to the requirement to permeate the membrane of the enterocyte, the drug must avoid metabolism by the enzymes present in the gut wall cell as well as counter-absorptive efflux by transport proteins in the gut wall cell membrane. Metabolic enzymes expressed by the enterocyte include the cytochrome P450, glucuronyltransferases, sulfotransferases and esterases. The levels of expression of these enzymes in the small intestine can approach that of the liver. The most well-studied efflux transporter expressed by the enterocyte is P-gp. 

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