First published online May 15, 2009
Journal of Experimental Biology 212, 1762-1772 (2009)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2009
doi: 10.1242/jeb.028803
Regulation of the V-ATPase in kidney epithelial cells: dual role in acid–base homeostasis and vesicle trafficking
Dennis Brown*,
Teodor G. Paunescu,
Sylvie Breton and
Vladimir Marshansky
Center for Systems Biology, Program in Membrane Biology/Nephrology
Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA and Harvard
Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA

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Fig. 1. Structure of the V-ATPase. The large cytoplasmic oriented V1
sector of the V-ATPase holoenzyme can be visualized by conventional (A) and
rapid-freeze, deep-etch (B) electron microscopy (EM). By conventional EM, the
V-ATPase appears as dense projections (arrows) attached to the cytoplasmic
side of the apical plasma membrane (PM) of this A-type intercalated cell
(A-IC) from a rat kidney. Note that almost all of the membrane in this section
is coated with the V-ATPase. Panel B shows the underside of a
mitochondria-rich (MR)-cell from toad urinary bladder, coated with arrays of
stud-like projections that correspond to V-ATPase V1 sectors and to
the projections seen by thin section EM in panel A. Each projection is about
10 nm in diameter. The bottom right inset shows a schematic representation of
the subunits that comprise the transmembrane Vo sector and the
cytoplasmic V1 sector of the holoenzyme. See text for more details.
Scale bar=50 nm.
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Fig. 2. Cryostat section of cortical collecting duct from a PLP (paraformaldehyde,
lysine, periodate)-fixed rat kidney immunostained to reveal aquaporin 2 (AQP2)
(green: anti-AQP2 C-terminus, raised in goat, followed by donkey anti-goat IgG
coupled to Alexa 488) and the V-ATPase (red: anti-V-ATPase A-subunit
C-terminus, raised in rabbit, followed by donkey anti-rabbit IgG coupled to
CY3). Principal cells contain a tight apical band of AQP2 in this tissue and
also show a weaker staining at their basolateral pole. Intercalated cells (IC)
have either a strong apical staining only [A-type intercalated cells (A-IC)]
or a basolateral/bipolar staining for the V-ATPase [B-type intercalated cells
(B-IC)]. Nuclei are stained blue with DAPI. Scale bar=5 µm.
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Fig. 4. Immunogold electron microscopy (EM) showing extensive labeling for the
A-subunit (70 kDa) of the V-ATPase in intercalated cells (IC). Antibodies
against the C-terminus of the A-subunit were raised in rabbit and affinity
purified prior to use. Rat kidney was fixed by vascular perfusion using PLP
(paraformaldehyde, lysine, periodate) and embedded at low temperature in
Lowicryl HM20 resin prior to cutting ultrathin sections for immunolabeling
using the immunogold procedure. (A) The apical cytoplasm of an `unstimulated'
A-type intercalated cell (A-IC) from an outer medullary collecting duct with
many apical vesicles whose membranes are extensively labeled with
anti-V-ATPase antibodies/IgG-gold particles. Note that mitochondria (M) are
unlabeled. (B) Heavily labeled apical microvilli characteristic of a
`stimulated' A-IC. (C) The basolateral region of a B-type intercalated cells
(B-IC) from the cortical collecting duct illustrating the extensive V-ATPase
labeling of the basolateral plasma membrane that can occur in B-IC (but not in
A-IC). Scale bar=0.25 µm. BM, basement membrane.
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Fig. 5. This figure shows the localization of the B2-isoform (red) of the V-ATPase
in intercalated cells (IC) from PLP (paraformaldehyde, lysine,
periodate)-fixed mouse kidney inner medulla, identified by basolateral
staining for AE1 (green). Anti-B2-isoform specific antibodies were raised in
chicken against the C-terminal 10 amino acids of the B2-isoform, which differs
completely from the B1-isoform sequence in this region
(Paunescu et al., 2004 ). In
control animals, this isoform is diffusely located in the apical pole of the
cells (A) whereas in mice that lack the B1-isoform, the B2 is now found in a
tight apical band at the apical plasma membrane (B). Panels C and D show
V-ATPase staining alone in a raw image that was used for quantification of
apical fluorescence. The raw image was subjected to a thresholding step that
highlighted the V-ATPase apical staining (see insets E–H). The mean
pixel intensity measured in these apical regions is shown in histogram form
below. The four B1-null mice (–/– animals) examined here all have
a significantly greater apical B2 staining in their A-type intercalated cells
(A-IC) than the four wild-type mice (+/+ animals). Mean values from the four
mice in each group are shown in a separate column. Values are given as means
± s.d., and wild-type and B1-deficient mice values were significantly
different (P<0.001, ANOVA and Student's t-test). Thus,
under some circumstances, the normally intracellular B2-isoform can associate
with plasma membrane V-ATPase holoenzymes and become concentrated at the
apical pole of IC.
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Fig. 6. The soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) (green) detected in a cryostat section
of rat kidney cortex, using a monoclonal antibody raised against the
N-terminal catalytic regions of the enzyme
(Paunescu et al., 2008a ), is
highly expressed in both A-type intercalated cells (A-IC) and B-type
intercalated cells (B-IC), where its intracellular localization closely
resembles that of the V-ATPase (red: detected using an antibody against the
C-terminus of the 56 kD B1 V-ATPase-subunit)
(Paunescu et al., 2008a ). In
A-IC, identified by apical V-ATPase staining (A – arrowheads), sAC is
co-localized apically with the V-ATPase (B and C – arrowheads) and in
B-IC, identified by bipolar V-ATPase staining (A – arrows), sAC also has
a bipolar distribution (B and C – arrows). Adapted from Paunescu et al.
(Paunescu et al., 2008). Scale bar=5 µm.
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Fig. 7. Double staining of a rat cortical collecting duct for pendrin (A) and
soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) (B) shows apical colocalization in pendrin
positive B-type intercalated cells (B-IC) (C). However, some sAC staining in
B-IC is also present in the basolateral pole, and sAC is also present in
pendrin negative cells but at lower levels. Anti-pendrin antibodies raised in
rabbit were kindly provided by Dr Ines Rouaux (NIH)
(Paunescu et al., 2008a ).
Scale bar=5 µm.
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Fig. 8. Panel (A) shows that proximal tubule (PT) cells in culture internalize
FITC-albumin in a time-dependent manner, and that the rate of internalization
is significantly reduced upon inhibition of the V-ATPase by concanamycin (1
µmol l–1). Panel (B) shows that in addition to V-ATPase
inhibition [in this case using 1 µmol l–1 bafilomycin
(Baf) or concanamycin (CON)], non-specific disruption of the endosomal pH
gradient using FCCP (10 µmol l–1) and NH4Cl (20
mmol l–1) also inhibit albumin uptake by PT cells. By
contrast, brefeldin A (BFA – 50 µmol l–1) has no
effect on albumin endocytosis. Figure modified from Hurtado-Lorenzo et al.
(Hurtado-Lorenzo et al.,
2006 ). *P<0.05.
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Fig. 9. Confocal sections of rat proximal tubules showing partial colocalization of
the V-ATPase (a: red) with the small GTPase ARF6 (b: green) in sub-apical
vesicles (c: merge of a and b), and colocalization of the V-ATPase (d: red;
detected using antibodies against the 31 kD E-subunit, raised in rabbit) with
the GDP/GTP exchange factor ARNO (e: green) in a similar sub-apical location
(f: merge of d and e). Images a, b, d and e show immunofluorescence staining
superimposed upon a transmitted light image. Arf6 and ARNO were detected using
mouse monoclonal antibodies as previously described
(Brown and Marshansky, 2004 ).
Scale bar=5 µm.
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Fig. 10. Acidification-dependent recruitment of ARNO and Arf6 to isolated, purified
proximal tubule early endosomes in vitro. Panel (A) shows an assay in
which isolated endosomes were loaded with the pH indicator dye acridine
orange, and acidification in response to added ATP was followed in a
fluorimeter. A decrease in fluorescence intensity represents endosomal
acidification. ATP addition activates the V-ATPase and induces a strong
initial acidification that is reversed by the inhibitor folimycin (Fol, 1
µmol l–1) and even more so by the uncoupling agent FCCP (1
µmol l–1). When FCCP, the ionophore nigericin or
NH4Cl (1 mmol l–1) are added to the endosomes
prior to ATP addition, acidification is inhibited or greatly reduced. Panel
(B) shows a `protein recruitment assay' in which isolated proximal tubule
endosomes were incubated with cytosol in the presence of various inhibitors of
acidification. After a few minutes of incubation, endosomes were pelleted and
subjected to western blotting using antibodies against the V-ATPase E-subunit,
ARNO and Arf 6. The main message of this panel is that incubation with ATP
alone (maximal acidification condition) resulted in a large increase in the
amount of both ARNO and Arf6 associated with the endosomes. This `recruitment'
of these cytosolic proteins to endosomes was greatly reduced under all
conditions in which acidification was also reduced, either in the absence of
ATP (minimal acidification condition) or when acidification was inhibited by
FCCP, nigericin or NH4Cl. Modified from Maranda et al.
(Maranda et al., 2001 ).
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Fig. 11. Inhibition of acidification by bafilomycin prevents the delivery of
internalized albumin-Alexa594 from early to late endosomes. Proximal tubule
cells in culture were transfected with a vector expressing Rab7-EGFP, a marker
of late endosomes. They were then pulsed for 5 min with albumin-Alexa594 and
chased for about 75 min. (a) After 5 min, albumin (red) is delivered from
plasma membrane (arrows) to early endosomes (insert, red vesicles) and after
75 min chase (b), albumin was delivered to late endosomes (insert, yellow
vesicles). In striking contrast, in bafilomycin (0.5 µmol
l–1)-treated cells, albumin is still confined to early
endosomes (insert, red vesicles) even after 75 min chase (c). No yellow
vesicles are detectable. These images are single frames taken from real-time
movies of the chase period imaged by spinning disk confocal microscopy.
Modified from Hurtado-Lorenzo et al.
(Hurtado-Lorenzo et al.,
2006 ). Scale bar=1 µm.
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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2009