gamma-Glutamyltranspeptidase activity in newborn rat kidney brush border.

gamma-Glutamyltranspeptidase, known to be localized in the proximal tubule cell brush border in the rat, is a membrane-bound enzyme which transfers the gamma-glutamyl moiety of glutathione or its analogue gamma-glutamyl-p-nitroanilide to an amino acid or dipeptide acceptor. Brush borders were isolated from the kidneys of newborn and adult Sprague-Dawley rats and assayed for gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase activity. There is an increase in specific activity in the brush border with maturation. Newborn and adult brush border preparations exhibit similar pH optima, substrate affinities, apparent Km values, patterns of heat inactivation, inhibition by glutathione, and migration on polyacrylamide gels. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of a deoxycholate extract of brush border proteins and subsequent reaction with substrate within the gel reveal the presence of two bands, suggesting the presence of two forms of gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase in the rat kidney brush border.