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Localization of the CHIP28 water channel in reabsorptive segments of the rat male reproductive tract
No full textAbstract: The water channel protein CHIP28 is responsible for the high constitutive plasma membrane permeability to water of erythrocytes, renal proximal tubule, and thin descending limb of Henle. The male reproductive tract is embryologically related to kidney and some segments, particularly the efferent ducts, exhibit a high rate of solute flux-dependent reabsorption of luminal fluid. To determine whether this could occur through water channels in the plasma membrane of reproductive tract epithelial cells, we used anti-CHIP28 antibodies to localize this protein by Western blotting and immunocytochemistry. Western blotting of proteins from efferent duct homogenate indicated the presence of CHIP28 in the efferent duct cells. By indirect immunofluorescence and protein A-gold immunolabeling, CHIP28 was localized to the brush-border and basolateral membranes of nonciliated cells. Ciliated cells in the same epithelium showed no plasma membrane staining for CHIP28. In accord with immunocytochemical findings, freeze-fracture of nonciliated efferent duct cells revealed a plasma membrane organization resembling that of renal proximal tubule cells that are rich in CHIP28. The anti-CHIP28 antibodies also stained plasma membranes of epithelial cells in the ampulla of the vas deferens, seminal vesicles, and prostate, but not the cells in seminiferous tubules, epididymis, and proximal parts of the vas deferens. Therefore, CHIP28 may be a principal mediator of the transmembrane water transport in absorptive epithelial cells of efferent ducts, as well as in epithelia of several other segments of the male reproductive tract that show both secretory and reabsorptive functions
Effects of salt acclimation on water and urea permeabilities across the frog bladder: relationship with intramembrane particle aggregates.
No full textIn salt-acclimated frogs, water and urea bladder permeabilities are markedly higher than in tap water-acclimated animals. 2. Intra-membrane particle aggregates (IMPA) cover an unusually large surface area of the salt-acclimated frog bladder apical plasma membrane. 3. In saline-adapted animals, proteins extracted from the apical plasma membrane contain additional species of 19, 26, 31 and 53-61 kDa. These proteins might be related to the water channels contained by IMPA
Localization and functional analysis of CHIP28k water channels in stably transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells.
No full textCHIP28 is a major water transporting protein in erythrocytes and plasma membranes in kidney proximal tubule and thin descending limb of Henle. Chinese hamster ovary cells were stably transfected with the coding sequence of cloned rat kidney CHIP28k using expression vectors containing cytomegalovirus or Rous sarcoma virus promoters. Clonal cell populations expressed a 1.3-kilobase mRNA on Northern blot probed by CHIP28k cDNA and a 28-kDa protein on immunoblot probed by a polyclonal CHIP28 antibody. The clone with greatest expression produced approximately 8 x 10(6) copies of CHIP28k protein/cell. Plasma membrane osmotic water permeability (Pf), measured by stopped-flow light scattering, was 0.004 cm/s in control (vector-transfected) cells (10 degrees C) and 0.014 cm/s in the CHIP28k-transfected cells. Pf in CHIP28k-transfected cells had an activation energy of 4.9 kcal/mol and was reversibly inhibited by HgCl2. CHIP28k expression did not affect the transport of protons and the small polar non-electrolytes urea and formamide. CHIP28k immunoreactivity and function was then determined in subcellular fractions. Pf in 6-carboxyfluorescein-labeled endocytic vesicles, measured by a stopped-flow fluorescence quenching assay, was 0.002 cm/s (control cells) and 0.011 cm/s (CHIP28k-transfected cells); Pf in transfected cells was inhibited by HgCl2. Immunoblotting of fractionated endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, and plasma membranes revealed high densities of CHIP28k (approximately 5000 monomers/microns 2 in plasma membrane) with different glycosylation patterns; functional water transport activity was present only in Golgi and plasma membrane vesicles. Antibody detection of CHIP28k by confocal fluorescence microscopy and immunogold electron microscopy revealed localization to plasma membrane and intracellular vesicles. These studies establish a stably transfected somatic cell line that strongly expresses functional CHIP28k water channels. As in the original proximal tubule cells, the expressed CHIP28k protein is a selective water channel that is functional in endocytic vesicles and the cell plasma membrane
Localization of the CHIP28 water channel in rat kidney
No full textAbstract: CHIP28 is an integral membrane protein that has been identified as the erythrocyte water channel and that is also expressed in the kidney. Antibodies against erythrocyte CHIP28 were used to localize this protein along the rat urinary tubule. By Western blotting, CHIP28 was detected in kidney plasma membrane and endosome fractions. With the use of immunocytochemistry, CHIP28 was located in brush-border and basolateral plasma membranes of the proximal tubule. The initial S1 segment was weakly stained, but the S2 and S3 segments were heavily labeled. Subapical vesicles were also positive. Apical and basolateral membranes of the long thin descending limb were strongly labeled, but ascending thin and thick limbs of Henle and distal convoluted tubules were negative. Some vasa recta profiles in the medulla were positive. CHIP28 is, therefore, present in membranes with a high constitutive water permeability, where it probably acts as a transmembrane water-conducting channel. Finally, a weak staining of apical and basolateral membranes of cortical collecting duct principal cells was detectable, suggesting a potential relationship of CHIP28 to the vasopressin-sensitive water channel
Expression of aquaporin-4 in fast-twitch fibers of mammalian skeletal muscle
No full textIn this study we analyzed the expression of aquaporin-4 (AQP4) in mammalian skeletal muscle. Immunohistochemical experiments revealed that affinity-purified AQP4 antibodies stained selectively the sarcolemma of fast-twitch fibers. By immunogold electron microscopy, little or no intracellular labeling was detected. Western blot analysis showed the presence of two immunopositive bands with apparent molecular masses of 30 and 32 kD specifically present in membrane fraction of a fast-twitch rat skeletal muscle (extensor digitorum longus, EDL) and not revealed in a slow-twitch muscle (soleus). PCR Southern blot experiments resulted in a selective amplification in EDL of a 960-bp cDNA fragment encoding for the full-length rat form of AQP4. Functional experiments carried out on isolated skeletal muscle bundle fibers demonstrated that the osmotic response is faster in EDL than in soleus fibers isolated from the same rat. These results provide for the first time evidence for the expression of an aquaporin in skeletal muscle correlated to a specific fiber-type metabolism. Furthermore, we have analyzed AQP4 expression in skeletal muscle of mdx mice in which a decreased density of orthogonal arrays of particles, a typical morphological feature of AQP4, has been reported. Immunofluorescence experiments showed a marked reduction of AQP4 expression suggesting a critical role in the membrane alteration of Duchenne muscular dystrophy
A basolateral CHIP28/MIP26-related protein (BLIP) in kidney principal cells and gastric parietal cells
No full textAbstract: The water channel CHIP28 accounts for the high water permeability of proximal tubules and thin descending limbs of Henle; a homologous water channel, WCH-CD, in the apical membrane of collecting duct principal cells, may be the vasopressin-sensitive water channel. We show here that one antiserum, raised against CHIP28, immunostains the basolateral membrane of collecting duct principal cells, in addition to staining CHIP28 in other cells. This serum was named anti-basolateral integral protein (anti-BLIP) to distinguish it from other anti-CHIP28 antisera. By Western blotting, BLIP serum recognized both CHIP28 and MIP26, and it stained lens fibers, which contain MIP26 but not CHIP28. BLIP antiserum immunoprecipitated a 28-kDa band, a broad 35- to 50-kDa band, and an similar to 16-kDa band from kidney papilla. It also stained the basolateral membrane of gastric parietal cells, which were not stained with anti-CHIP28 or anti-MIP26 antibodies. BLIP antiserum immunoprecipitated a 28-kDa protein band from stomach; this protein was not precipitated by anti-CHIP28 antibodies. These results suggest that basolateral membranes of principal cells and parietal cells contain a protein(s) that shares common epitopes with CHIP28 and MIP26. Finally, BLIP but not CHIP28 antiserum stained mesothelial (but not epithelial) cells of toad urinary bladder, a further indication that the BLIP antiserum recognizes a protein distinct from CHIP28
A 28 kDa sarcolemmal antigen in kidney principal cell basolateral membranes: relationship to orthogonal arrays and MIP26
No full textAbstract: Two recently cloned water channels, CHTP28 and WCH-CD, are homologous to MIP26, an integral membrane channel-forming protein found in lens fiber plasma membranes. CHIP28 is found in basolateral and apical plasma membranes of kidney proximal tubules and thin descending limbs of Henle, whereas WCH-CD is apically located in collecting duct principal cells. So far, the putative water channel that may be responsible for the high constitutive permeability of principal cell basolateral membranes has not been identified. Interestingly, freeze-fracture electron microscopy has shown that characteristic orthogonal arrays of intramembrane particles (OAPs) are found on the basolateral plasma membranes of collecting duct principal cells, and that morphologically identical OAPs present in lens fiber cell plasma membranes contain the protein MIP26. Similar OAPs have also been detected on plasma membranes of other cell types including gastric parietal cells, astroglial cells and skeletal muscle fibers. By indirect immunofluorescence, western blotting and northern blotting, MIP26 was found only in lens fibers. In addition, functional studies on reconstituted and oocyte-expressed MIP26 excluded the possibility that MIP26 might be a basolateral water channel in the kidney. However, a polyclonal antibody raised against skeletal muscle sarcolemmal vesicles, which are enriched in OAPs, produced an intense staining of principal cell basolateral plasma membranes in kidney collecting duct and immuno-precipitated a 28 kDa protein from kidney papilla. The immunoprecipitated protein from papilla was not recognized by anti-CHIP28 or anti-MIP26 antibodies, indicating that principal cell basolateral membranes contain a novel member of the CHIP/MIP family. Because this antibody also stained brain astrocyte end feet, which are enriched in OAPs, it is possible that the 28 kDa protein is related to these structures. We conclude that OAPs probably contain related but distinct proteins that may have different membrane channel functions in different cell types
Tetrameric assembly of CHIP28 water channels in liposomes and cell membranes: a freeze-fracture study
No full textChannel forming integral protein of 28 kD (CHIP28) functions as a water channel in erythrocytes, kidney proximal tubule and thin descending limb of Henle. CHIP28 morphology was examined by freeze-fracture EM in proteoliposomes reconstituted with purified CHIP28, CHO cells stably transfected with CHIP28k cDNA, and rat kidney tubules. Liposomes reconstituted with HPLC-purified CHIP28 from human erythrocytes had a high osmotic water permeability (Pf0.04 cm/s) that was inhibited by HgCl2. Freeze-fracture replicas showed a fairly uniform set of intramembrane particles (IMPs); no IMPs were observed in liposomes without incorporated protein. By rotary shadowing, the IMPs had a diameter of 8.5 +/- 1.3 nm (mean +/- SD); many IMPs consisted of a distinct arrangement of four smaller subunits surrounding a central depression. IMPs of similar size and appearance were seen on the P-face of plasma membranes from CHIP28k-transfected (but not mock-transfected) CHO cells, rat thin descending limb (TDL) of Henle, and S3 segment of proximal straight tubules. A distinctive network of complementary IMP imprints was observed on the E-face of CHIP28-containing plasma membranes. The densities of IMPs in the size range of CHIP28 IMPs, determined by non-linear regression, were (in IMPs/microns 2): 2,494 in CHO cells, 5,785 in TDL, and 1,928 in proximal straight tubules; predicted Pf, based on the CHIP28 single channel water permeability of 3.6 x 10(-14) cm3/S (10 degrees C), was in good agreement with measured Pf of 0.027 cm/S, 0.075 cm/S, and 0.031 cm/S, respectively, in these cell types. Assuming that each CHIP28 monomer is a right cylindrical pore of length 5 nm and density 1.3 g/cm3, the monomer diameter would be 3.2 nm; a symmetrical arrangement of four cylinders would have a greatest diameter of 7.2 nm, which after correction for the thickness of platinum deposit, is similar to the measured IMP diameter of approximately 8.5 nm. These results provide a morphological signature for CHIP28 water channels and evidence for a tetrameric assembly of CHIP28 monomers in reconstituted proteoliposomes and cell membranes
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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