Transport of the aromatic amino acids into isolated rat liver cells. Properties of uptake by two distinct systems.

The transport of the aromatic amino acids into isolated rat liver cells was studied. There was a rapid and substantial binding of the aromatic amino acids, L-alanine and L-leucine to the plasma membrane. This has important consequences for the determination of rates of transport and intracellular concentrations of the amino acids. Inhibition studies with a variety of substrates of various transport systems gave results consistent with aromatic amino acid transport being catalysed by two systems: a 2-aminobicyclo(2,2,1)heptane-2-carboxylic acid (BCH)-insensitive aromatic D- and L-amino acid-specific system, and the L-type system (BCH-sensitive). The BCH-insensitive component of transport was Na+-independent and facilitated non-concentrative transport of the aromatic amino acids; it was unaffected by culture of liver cells for 24 h, by 48 h starvation, dexamethasone phosphate or glucagon. Kinetic properties of the BCH-inhibitable component were similar to those previously reported for the L2-system in liver cells. The BCH-insensitive component was a comparatively low-Km low-Vmax. transport system that we suggest is similar to the T-transport system previously seen only in human red blood cells. The results are discussed with reference to the importance of the T- and L-systems in the control of aromatic L-amino acid degradation in the liver.