Premium
Functional Studies of Acid Transporter in Cultured Rat Epididymal Cell
Author(s) -
Zuo Wulin,
Shan Jiajie,
Li Sheng,
Wong Patrick Y. D.,
Zhou Wenliang
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.796.19
Subject(s) - bafilomycin , extracellular , atpase , secretion , motility , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , carbonic anhydrase , cytoplasm , v atpase , biochemistry , carbonic anhydrase ii , biology , enzyme , apoptosis , autophagy
The epididymis is the site for the maturation and storage of spermatozoa. The acidic epididymal fluid, which maintains spermatozoa in a quiescent state, contributes to this process. Several transporters, including Na? exchanger (NHE) and vacuolar H+ATPase(H+ATPase), are believed to be involved in the pH regulation of epithelial fluid. In the present study, double immunofluorescense of H+ATPase and carbonic anhydrase II (CA II) in primary culture of cauda epithelial cells showed that the system was a suitable model for investigation of acid secretion by clear cells. Clear cells were pharmacologically distinguished from principal cells in acid/base transportation. The H+ATPase inhibitor, bafilomycin A1, and NHE inhibitor, amiloride, suppressed the pHi recovery by 85% and 54%, respectively. It suggested that, in addition to NHE, clear cells actively pump proton from cytoplasm into extracellular space via H+ATPase. Luminal fluid was acidified by H+ATPase, and this process could be inhibited by its inhibitors with IC50 values of 12 nM. Rat cauda sperm motility was demonstrated to be regulated by the acid fluid. The present work shows that the minority cell type‐clear cells play an important role in the pH regulation of epididymal fluid via H+ATPase. This work was supported by Hong Kong RGC grant (No.452506) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.30770817)