Kinetic properties of the ATP-dependent Ca2+ pump and the Na+/Ca2+ exchange system in basolateral membranes from rat kidney cortex.

Basolateral plasma membranes from rat kidney cortex have been purified 40-fold by a combination of differential centrifugation, centrifugation in a discontinuous sucrose gradient followed by centrifugation in 8% percoll. The ratio of leaky membrane vesicles (L) versus right-side-out (RO) and inside-out (IO) resealed vesicles appeared to be L:RO:IO = 4:3:1. High-affinity Ca2+-ATPase, ATP-dependent Ca2+ transport and Na+/Ca2+ exchange have been studied with special emphasis on the relative transport capacities of the two Ca2+ transport systems. The kinetic parameters of Ca2+-ATPase activity in digitonin-treated membranes are: Km = 0.11 microM Ca2+ and Vmax = 81 +/- 4 nmol Pi/min X mg protein at 37 degrees C. ATP-dependent Ca2+ transport amounts to 4.3 +/- 0.2 and 7.4 +/- 0.3 nmol Ca2+/min X mg protein at 25 and 37 degrees C, respectively, with an affinity for Ca2+ of 0.13 and 0.07 microM at 25 and 37 degrees C. After correction for the percentage of IO-resealed vesicles involved in ATP-dependent Ca2+ transport, a stoichiometry of 0.7 mol Ca2+ transported per mol ATP is found for the Ca2+-ATPase. In the presence of 75 mM Na+ in the incubation medium ATP-dependent Ca2+ uptake is inhibited 22%. When Na+ is present at 5 mM an extra Ca2+ accumulation is observed which amounts to 15% of the ATP-dependent Ca2+ transport rate. This extra Ca2+ accumulation induced by low Na+ is fully inhibited by preincubation of the vesicles with 1 mM ouabain, which indicates that (Na+-K+)-ATPase generates a Na+ gradient favorable for Ca2+ accumulation via the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger. In the absence of ATP, a Na+ gradient-dependent Ca2+ uptake is measured which rate amounts to 5% of the ATP-dependent Ca2+ transport capacity. The Na+ gradient-dependent Ca2+ uptake is abolished by the ionophore monensin but not influenced by the presence of valinomycin. The affinity of the Na+/Ca2+ exchange system for Ca2+ is between 0.1 and 0.2 microM Ca2+, in the presence as well as in the absence of ATP. This affinity is surprisingly close to the affinity measured for the ATP-dependent Ca2+ pump. Based on these observations it is concluded that in isolated basolateral membranes from rat kidney cortex the Ca2+-ATPase system exceeds the capacity of the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger four- to fivefold and it is therefore unlikely that the latter system plays a primary role in the Ca2+ homeostasis of rat kidney cortex cells.