Sodium-alanine cotransport in oocytes of Xenopus laevis: correlation of alanine and sodium fluxes with potential and current changes.

The sodium-dependent L-alanine transport across the plasma membrane of oocytes of Xenopus laevis was studied by means of [14C]-L-alanine, 22Na+ and electrophysiological measurements. At fixed sodium concentrations, the dependence of alanine transport on alanine concentration follows Michaelis-Menten kinetics; at fixed alanine concentrations, the transport varies with sodium concentration with a Hill coefficient of 2. In the presence of sodium the uptake of alanine is accompanied by a depolarization of the membrane. Under voltage-clamp conditions this depolarization can be compensated by an inward-directed current. Assuming that this current is carried by sodium we arrive at a 2:1 stoichiometry for the sodium-alanine cotransport. The assumption was confirmed by direct measurements of both sodium and alanine fluxes at saturating concentrations of the two substrates, which also yielded a stoichiometry close to 2:1. The sodium-L-alanine cotransport is neither inhibited by furosemide (0.5 mmol/liter) nor by N-methyl amino isobutyric acid (5 mmol/liter). A 20-fold excess of D-alanine over L-alanine caused about 60% inhibition.