Inhibition of Dicarboxylate Transport by p-chloromercuribenzoic Acid (PCMB) in Plasma Membrane Vesicles of Rabbit Proximal Tubule

Effect of a sulfhydryl reagent, p-chloromercuribenzoic acid (PCMB), on the transport of succinate was studied in brush border (BBMV) and basolateral (BLMV) membrane vesicles isolated from rabbit renal cortex. PCMB induced an irreversible inhibition of the $Na^+-dependent$ succinate uptake in a dose-dependent manner with $IC_{50}$ of 55 and $65\;{\mu}M$ in BBMV and BLMV, respectively. The inhibitory effect of PCMB was prevented by a pretreatment of vesicles with dithiothreitol. PCMB did not increase $Na^+$ permeability at concentrations inhibiting succinate uptake. The PCMB inhibition of succinate uptake was due to a change in Vmax, but not in Km. When membrane vesicles were pretreated with PCMB in the presence of unlabelled succinate, the inhibitory effect was significantly reduced. In both BBMV and BLMV, succinate uptake was inhibited by various sulfhydryl reagents with the inhibitory potency of following order: $HgCl_2$>DTNB>PCMBS>PCMB. These results suggest that sulfhydryl groups are essential for dicarboxylate transport and that they may be located at or near substrate binding sites of the transporters in renal brush border and basolateral membranes.