Expression of taurine transporter and its regulation by diet in Xenopus laevis oocytes following injection of rat kidney cortex mRNA.

NaCl-dependent taurine transport adapts to changes in the dietary intake of sulfur amino acids. The renal adaptive response is expressed by enhanced NaCl-dependent taurine cotransport by brush border membrane vesicles after a low taurine diet and reduced transport after a high taurine diet as compared to a normal taurine diet. In order to determine if this adaptive regulation is dependent on new protein synthesis, the Xenopus laevis oocyte expression system was utilized to define the translational regulation of taurine transporter activity. Poly(A)+ RNA was isolated from kidney cortex of Sprague Dawley rats fed either a low, normal or high taurine diet for 28 days. Injection of poly(A)+ RNA resulted in a time- and dose-dependent increase in NaCl-taurine co-transport. Taurine uptake was stimulated about 2-10-fold after injection of poly(A)+ RNA (10-40 ng) as compared to H2O-injected oocytes. Taurine uptake by oocytes was sodium- and anion-dependent (Cl- > Br- > SCN- > I-). The Km and Vmax of the taurine transporter were 22.5 microM and 8.35 pmol/h/oocyte respectively, similar to the Km of 17.0 microM found in rat brush border membrane vesicles. Because the adaptive response involves an augmented or reduced Vmax of the transporter, taurine uptake by oocytes injected with poly(A)+ RNA from rats fed each diet was examined. Poly(A)+ RNA from rats fed a low taurine diet elicited twice the taurine uptake elicited from rats fed a normal taurine diet and more than three times the uptake from high taurine-fed rats. Northern blot analysis after hybridization with an RNA probe for the taurine transporter cDNA from MDCK cells (obtained from Dr. Uchida) indicated that the molecular size of taurine transporter mRNA is about 1.9 kb and is regulated by diet. Expression of taurine transporter by the oocytes injected with 30 ng of capped transcript from pNCT was significantly reduced by taurine in the medium. In conclusion, taurine uptake by oocytes after injection of mRNA is similar to brush border membrane vesicles taurine transport. The long-term adaptive response is regulated at the level of mRNA, and the short-term adaptive response is regulated at the level of protein synthesis or secretion. We speculate that the renal adaptive response to altered dietary sulfur amino acid intake is both transcriptionally and translationally regulated.