Preparation and characterization of basolateral membrane vesicles from pig and human colonocytes: the mechanism of glucose transport

Membrane vesicles were isolated from the basolateral domains of pig and normal human colonocytes. The activity of the ouabain-sensitive K(+)-activated phosphatase, the basolateral membrane marker, was enriched 13-fold in these membrane vesicles over the original homogenate. The membranes displayed cross-reactions with antibodies to the (Na+/K+)ATPase and the RLA class I major histocompatibility antigen, both known indicators of the basolateral membrane. There was negligible contamination by other organelles and the luminal membrane, as revealed by marker-enzyme analysis and Western blotting, using an antibody to villin. The vesicles transported D-glucose in a cytochalasin B-inhibitable Na(+)-independent manner, with a Km of 28.1 +/- 0.8 mM and Vmax. of 3.1 +/- 0.4 nmol/s per mg of protein. The transport was inhibited by 2-deoxy-D-glucose and 3-O-methyl-D-glucose, but not by L-glucose or methyl-alpha-D-glucose. Probing the colonocyte basolateral membranes with an antibody against the C-terminus of the human liver GLUT 2 produced a cross-reaction at 52 kDa. These properties indicate the presence of a GLUT 2 isoform on the basolateral membranes of human and pig colonocytes.