Luminal leptin inhibits L-glutamine transport in rat small intestine: involvement of ASCT2 and BAT1

Ducroc R, Sakar Y, Fanjul C, Barber A, Bado A, Lostao MP. Luminal leptin inhibits L-glutamine transport in rat small intestine: involvement of ASCT2 and BAT1. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 299: G179–G185, 2010. First published May 6, 2010; doi:10.1152/ajpgi.00048.2010.—L-glutamine is the primary metabolic fuel for enterocytes. Glutamine from the diet is transported into the absorptive cells by two sodium-dependent neutral amino acid transporters present at the apical membrane: ASCT2/SLC1A5 and BAT1/ SLC6A19. We have demonstrated that leptin is secreted into the stomach lumen after a meal and modulates the transport of sugars after binding to its receptors located at the brush border of the enterocytes. The present study was designed to address the effect of luminal leptin on Na -dependent glutamine (Gln) transport in rat intestine and identify the transporters involved. We found that 0.2 nM leptin inhibited uptake of Gln and phenylalanine (Phe) (substrate of BAT1) using everted intestinal rings. In Ussing chambers, 10 mM Gln absorption followed as Na -induced short-circuit current was inhibited by leptin in a dose-dependent manner (maximum inhibition at 10 nM; IC50 0.1 nM). Phe absorption was also decreased by leptin. Western blot analysis after 3-min incubation of the intestinal loops with 10 mM Gln, showed marked increase of ASCT2 and BAT1 protein in the brush-border membrane that was reduced by rapid preincubation of the intestinal lumen with 1 nM leptin. Similarly, the increase in ASCT2 and BAT1 gene expression induced by 60-min incubation of the intestine with 10 mM Gln was strongly reduced after a short preincubation period with leptin. Altogether these data demonstrate that, in rat, leptin controls the active Gln entry through reduction of both BAT1 and ASCT2 proteins traffic to the apical plasma membrane and modulation of their gene expression.