Expression and cellular distribution during development of the peptide transporter (PepT1) in the small intestinal epithelium of the rat.

Immunocytochemical distribution in rat small intestine of PepT1, the oligopeptide transporter responsible for nutritionally important peptide uptake from the adult small intestinal lumen, has been measured during development using an antibody to the C-terminal sequence of PepT1. Distribution is exclusively in the apical brush border of enterocytes from both prenatal and mature animals. However, immediately after birth immunolocalisation of PepT1 extends to the subapical cytoplasm and to the basolateral membrane of enterocytes. No staining is found in crypts or over Goblet cells. Our results imply that the peptide transporter at the basolateral membrane in adult rats must be distinct from PepT1. They also shed new light on the trafficking of PepT1 in enterocytes.