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Immunolocalization of a mammalian aquaporin 3 homolog in water-transporting epithelial cells in several organs of the clawed toad Xenopus laevis

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Abstract

Nucleotide sequences of cDNA were used to construct antibodies against an aquaporin (AQP) expressed in the clawed toad, Xenopus laevis, viz., Xenopus AQP3, a homolog of mammalian AQP3. Xenopus AQP3 was immunolocalized in the basolateral membrane of the principal cells of the ventral skin, the urinary bladder, the collecting duct and late distal tubule of the kidney, the absorptive epithelial cells of the large intestine, and the ciliated epithelial cells of the oviducts. Therefore, we designated this AQP as basolateral Xenopus AQP3 (AQP-x3BL). The intensity of labeling for AQP-x3BL differed between the ventral and dorsal skin, with the basolateral membrane of the principal cells in the ventral skin showing intense labeling, whereas that in the dorsal skin was lightly labeled. AQP-x3BL was also immunolocalized in the basolateral membrane of secretory cells in the small granular and mucous glands of the skin. As AQP-x5, a homolog of mammalian AQP5, is localized in the apical membrane of these same cells, this provides a pathway for fluid secretion by the glands. Although Hyla AQP-h2 is translocated from the cytoplasm to the apical membrane of the Hyla urinary bladder in response to arginine vasotocin (AVT), AQP-h2 immunoreactivity in Xenopus bladder remains in the cytoplasm and barely moves to the apical membrane, regardless of AVT stimulation. AQP-x3 is localized in the basolateral membrane, even though the AVT-stimulated AQP-h2 does not translocate to the apical membrane. These findings provide new insights into AQP function in aquatic anurans.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, Shizuoka University, Ohya 836, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, 422–8529, Japan

    Hiroshi Mochida, Masakazu Suzuki & Shigeyasu Tanaka

  2. Integrated Bioscience Section, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, Ohya 836, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, 422–8529, Japan

    Takashi Nakakura & Shigeyasu Tanaka

  3. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Shizuoka University, Ohya 836, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, 422–8529, Japan

    Masakazu Suzuki, Sakae Kikuyama & Shigeyasu Tanaka

  4. Gunma Prefecture College of Health Science, Maebashi, 371–0052, Japan

    Hiroaki Hayashi

Authors
  1. Hiroshi Mochida
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  2. Takashi Nakakura
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  3. Masakazu Suzuki
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  4. Hiroaki Hayashi
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  5. Sakae Kikuyama
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  6. Shigeyasu Tanaka
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Correspondence to Shigeyasu Tanaka.

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This investigation was supported in part by a grant-in aid for science research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture of Japan to S.T.

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Mochida, H., Nakakura, T., Suzuki, M. et al. Immunolocalization of a mammalian aquaporin 3 homolog in water-transporting epithelial cells in several organs of the clawed toad Xenopus laevis . Cell Tissue Res 333, 297–309 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-008-0628-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-008-0628-2

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