Volume-regulatory amino acid transport in erythrocytes of the little skate, Raja erinacea.

Skate erythrocytes swell in a hypotonic medium and then reduce their volume mainly by releasing the beta-amino acids taurine and beta-alanine. Although these amino acids exhibit a net efflux, Na(+)-independent influx is also increased. Both the reduction in cell volume and increase in amino acid transport are inhibited by several inhibitors of band 3-mediated anion transport, including 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS) [L. Goldstein and S. R. Brill, Am. J. Physiol. 260 (Regulatory Integrative Comp. Physiol. 29): R1014-R1020, 1991]. The objective of the present investigation was to further characterize the mechanism of volume-activated amino acid transport. Na(+)-independent amino acid uptake was studied because of the ease in controlling amino acid concentrations. Na(+)-independent taurine uptake was observed to be linear over a range of 0.1-15 mM and was not inhibited by 10 mM beta-alanine, suggesting that the transporter may be a channel rather than a carrier. The uptake of a variety of amino acids was examined to characterize the size of the putative channel. Glycine, beta-alanine, taurine, proline, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and threonine exhibited volume-activated transport that was DIDS inhibited, whereas aspartic acid, leucine, methionine, and ornithine were not transported. On the basis of the size of these amino acids, it appears that molecules containing eight or fewer major atoms and having a molecular mass of < 125-131 Da are transported during volume activation but larger molecules are not. We estimate the size of the channel to be 5.7-6.3 A in diameter.