Transepithelial Transport of Organic Cation and Its Inhibition by Sulfhydryl and Carboxyl Reagents in Opossum Kidney Cell Monolayer

Transepithelial transport of tetraethylammonium (TEA) was studied in monolayers of opossum kidney cells cultured on permeable membrane filters. $[^{14}C]-TEA$ was transported across the OK cell monolayer from basolateral to apical side by a saturable process which can be stimulated by acidification of the apical medium. The apparent Michaelis-Menten constant $(K_{m})$ and the maximum velocity$(V_{max})$ for the transport were $41\;{\mu}M$ and 147 pmole/ mg protein/ min, respectively. The transport was significantly inhibited by unlabelled TEA, amiloride, cimetidine, choline, and mepiperphenidol added to the basolateral side at 1 mM and was slightly inhibited by 5 mM $N_{1}-methylnicotinamide\;(NMN).$ Unlabelled TEA added to the apical side stimulated the $basolateral-to-apical\;{^{14}C}-TEA$ transport, suggesting that the TEA self-exchange mechanism was involved at the apical membrane. Sulfhydryl reagents such as ${\rho}-chloromercuribenzoic\;acid\;(PCMB)\;and \;{\rho}-chloro-mercuribenzene\;sulfonate \;(PCMBS)$ and carboxyl reagents such as N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimidem (DCCD) and N-ethoxy-carbonyl-2-ethoxy-1,2-dihydro-quinoline(EEDQ) inhibited the TEA transport at both the basolateral and apical membranes of the OK cell monolayer. These results suggest that OK cell monolayers possess a vectorial transport system for organic cations which is similar to that for organic cation secretion in the renal proximal tubule.