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There are several in vitro systems that enable evaluation of the absorption direction, but there are few quantitative systems that enable easy evaluation of the excretion direction. Enteroids, organoids derived from intestine, have been frozen and passaged for various research. But it is not clear how the freezing and passaging affect the expression and function of transporters. We investigated the effects of passage and cryopreservation of enteroids. We focused on P-gp (P-glycoprotein) and compared the transfer rates of rhodamine 123 (Rh123) into the lumen of enteroids with and without a P-gp inhibitor. mRNA expression levels did not change significantly before and after passage and cryopreservation. Accumulation of Rh123 in the lumen of enteroids was observed. With some P-gp inhibitors, excretion of Rh123 into the lumen of enteroids was inhibited and the nonexcreted Rh123 accumulated in enteroids epithelial cells. The transfer rate of Rh123 into the lumen of enteroids with a P-gp inhibitor was significantly decreased compared to that of without a P-gp inhibitor. Before and after passage and cryopreservation, the transfer rate was almost the same as that of primary cultured enteroids. We succeeded in easily evaluating whether a component is a substrate of P-gp using enteroids., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (Copyright © 2024 American Pharmacists Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Autoradiograms of [125I]-endothelin (ET) binding in the rat brain demonstrated that the receptors for endothelin are localized mainly in the brainstem, basal ganglia, and cerebellum. Among the many other nuclei in these regions, there also appeared nuclei which are considered to play important roles in the central nervous regulation of the cardiovascular system: they include the nuclei of the anteroventral third ventricle area, the supraoptic nucleus, and the subfornical organ, for example. From these findings, we suggest that ET-1 or its analogous peptide(s) may act as a neuropeptide regulating central nervous functions, including cardiovascular functions.

We produced a monoclonal antibody, gamma G6, that reacts only with one cell type in the connecting (CNT) and collecting tubules (CT) of rabbit kidney. The gamma G6 antibody-reactive cells revealed carbonic anhydrase activity, showing one of the characteristics of intercalated (IC) cells. Using immunoelectron microscopy, we demonstrated that IC cells in cortical CT consist of the gamma G6 antibody-reactive and non-reactive cells, whereas all IC cells in medullary CT were reactive with the gamma G6 antibody. We used a cell sorter to enrich this cell type from the isolated kidney cell suspension. When we measured hormone-sensitive adenylate cyclase (ACase) activities of the sorted cells, the presence of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and isoproterenol (ISO) almost doubled ACase activities when compared with the basal values; however, no additive effect of PTH and ISO was observed. They showed no calcitonin-sensitive ACase and negligible arginine vasopressin (AVP)-sensitive ACase. We suggest that the IC cells recognized by the gamma G6 monoclonal antibody possess a receptor(s) for PTH and/or ISO but not for AVP in the CNT and CT, although it remains to be clarified whether the reactivities to PTH and ISO in these cells originate from single or dual cells.

In order to identify the molecular size of receptors for alpha-rat atrial natriuretic polypeptide (alpha-rANP), we utilized the direct UV irradiation method for photoaffinity labeling with the biologically active [125I] alpha-rANP. In the preparation of isolated glomerulus and the inner medullary collecting duct (IMCT)-rich fraction, the autoradiograms of the electrophoresed sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gels showed a single radioactive band which is displaceable with unlabeled alpha-rANP. The dose-dependent displacement fit very well with a binding-inhibition curve representing the binding affinity of 6.5 X 10(-10) M. The molecular size of the ligand-receptor complex was about 65,000 daltons for both glomerulus and IMCT-rich fraction. In contrast, in homogenate of the aorta and adrenal gland, the ligand-receptor complex was 140,000 daltons.