Acid phosphatase activity in the mammalian nephron.

Lysosomal acid phosphatase (AcPase) activity was measured in individual segments of rat and rabbit nephrons employing 4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate as the substrate. Generation of reaction product was linear with incubation time up to 127 min and with tubule length. Activity was much higher in glomeruli and proximal tubules of rat than rabbit kidney. In both rat and rabbit there were higher activities in juxtamedullary than in superficial glomeruli. In rats, AcPase activity decreased from S1 to S3 segments, which parallels the known decrease in the number of lysosomes. Surprisingly, in rabbits of both sexes AcPase activity in the cortical collecting duct (CCD), which contains a limited number of lysosomes, was comparable to levels measured in the S1 and S2 segments of the proximal tubule. Similarly, in the male rat values for AcPase activity in the cortical thick ascending limb, distal convoluted tubule, CCD, and medullary collecting duct paralleled those in the S3 segment. These findings suggest that a considerable amount of AcPase in the distal nephron is either extralysosomal or that the amount of lysosomal AcPase activity per unit volume is greater in distal nephron segments compared with the proximal tubule. Different K'm values for AcPase in S1 segments and CCD were found in the rabbit, suggesting the presence of different isoenzymes.