Electroneutral Na+/H+exchange in brush-border membrane vesicles from Penaeus japonicus hepatopancreas.

An electroneutral Na+/H+exchange mechanism (dimethylamiloride inhibitable, Li+ sensitive, and Ca2+ insensitive) was identified in brush-border membrane vesicles (BBMV) from Kuruma prawn hepatopancreas by monitoring Na+-dependent H+ fluxes with the pH-sensitive dye acridine orange and measuring22Na+uptake. Kinetic parameters measured under short-circuited conditions were the Na+ concentration that yielded one-half of the maximal dissipation rate ( F max) of the preset transmembrane ΔpH ( K Na) = 15 ± 2 mM and F max = 3,626 ± 197 Δ F ⋅ min-1 ⋅ mg protein-1, with a Hill coefficient for Na+ of ∼1. In addition, the inhibitory constant for dimethylamiloride was found to be ∼1 μM. The electroneutral nature of the antiporter was assessed in that an inside-negative transmembrane electrical potential neither affected kinetic parameters nor stimulated pH-dependent (intracellular pH > extracellular pH)22Na+uptake. In contrast, electrogenic pH-dependent22Na+uptake was observed in lobster hepatopancreatic BBMV. Substitution of chloride with gluconate resulted in increasing K Na and decreasing Δ F max, which suggests a possible role of chloride in the operational mechanism of the antiporter. These results indicate that a Na+/H+exchanger, resembling the electroneutral Na+/H+antiporter model, is present in hepatopancreatic BBMV from the Kuruma prawn Penaeus japonicus.