The Na+/H+ exchanger isoform 3 is required for active paracellular and transcellular Ca2+ transport across murine cecum

J Rievaj, W Pan, E Cordat… - American Journal of …, 2013 - journals.physiology.org
J Rievaj, W Pan, E Cordat, R Todd Alexander
American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver …, 2013journals.physiology.org
Intestinal calcium (Ca2+) absorption occurs via paracellular and transcellular pathways.
Although the transcellular route has been extensively studied, mechanisms mediating
paracellular absorption are largely unexplored. Unlike passive diffusion, secondarily active
paracellular Ca2+ uptake occurs against an electrochemical gradient with water flux
providing the driving force. Water movement is dictated by concentration differences that are
largely determined by Na+ fluxes. Consequently, we hypothesized that Na+ absorption …
Intestinal calcium (Ca2+) absorption occurs via paracellular and transcellular pathways. Although the transcellular route has been extensively studied, mechanisms mediating paracellular absorption are largely unexplored. Unlike passive diffusion, secondarily active paracellular Ca2+ uptake occurs against an electrochemical gradient with water flux providing the driving force. Water movement is dictated by concentration differences that are largely determined by Na+ fluxes. Consequently, we hypothesized that Na+ absorption mediates Ca2+ flux. NHE3 is central to intestinal Na+ absorption. NHE3 knockout mice (NHE3−/−) display impaired intestinal Na+, water, and Ca2+ absorption. However, the mechanism mediating this latter abnormality is not clear. To investigate this, we used Ussing chambers to measure net Ca2+ absorption across different segments of wild-type mouse intestine. The cecum was the only segment with net Ca2+ absorption. Quantitative RT-PCR measurements revealed cecal expression of all genes implicated in intestinal Ca2+ absorption, including NHE3. We therefore employed this segment for further studies. Inhibition of NHE3 with 100 μM 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl) amiloride decreased luminal-to-serosal and increased serosal-to-luminal Ca2+ flux. NHE3−/− mice had a >60% decrease in luminal-to-serosal Ca2+ flux. Ussing chambers experiments under altered voltage clamps (−25, 0, +25 mV) showed decreased transcellular and secondarily active paracellular Ca2+ absorption in NHE3−/− mice relative to wild-type animals. Consistent with this, cecal Trpv6 expression was diminished in NHE3−/− mice. Together these results implicate NHE3 in intestinal Ca2+ absorption and support the theory that this is, at least partially, due to the role of NHE3 in Na+ and water absorption.
American Physiological Society