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Cell kinetics of differentiation of Na/sup +/-dependent hexose transport in a cultured renal epithelial cell line

Conference ·
OSTI ID:5267311
Fully differentiated cells of the renal proximal tubule have the capability of taking up hexoses across their apical borders by transport coupled to the Na/sup +/-electrochemical gradient. This property is also found in postconfluent cultures of the cloned cell line LLC-PK/sub 1/, a morphologically polarized line of renal cells. Postconfluent cells develop the Na/sup +/-dependent capacity to transport hexoses at their apical surface. This function is not observable during the growth phase of the cultures. To analyze the developmental process at the cellular level a method has been derived to separate transporting cells, expressing the differentiated function, from nontransporting cells. The method is based on the swelling of the cells accompanying the uptake of the nonmetabolizable glucose analog alpha methylglucoside. The swollen cells have a lower buoyant density than the undifferentiated cells and may be separated from them on density gradients. Analysis of the distribution of cells on such gradients shows that after the cells reach confluence the undifferentiated subpopulation is recruited onto the differentiation pathway with a rate constant of 0.2 per day, that 5 to 7 days are required for a cell to traverse this pathway to the fully differentiated state, and that once the maximum uptake capacity is achieved the cells do not develop further.
Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84OR21400
OSTI ID:
5267311
Report Number(s):
CONF-8509166-1; ON: DE85018067
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English