Taurocholate transport by brush border membrane vesicles from different regions of chicken intestine

Taurocholate transport was studied in brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) isolated from chicken small (duodenum, jejunum, and ileum) and large (proximal cecum and rectum) intestines, using a rapid filtration technique. The purity of the BBMV was verified by the finding that the specific activity of sucrase (a brush border membrane enzyme marker) was severalfold greater in vesicles than corresponding values in mucosal homogenate. The functional integrity of isolated BBMV was evaluated by the uptake of D-glucose, which showed a transient increase in the presence of Na+. A Na+-dependence of taurocholate uptake was shown in BBMV prepared from ileum, cecum, and rectum, as taurocholate transport was transiently increased (accumulation) in the presence of a Na+ gradient between the external medium and intravesicular medium. The magnitude of the accumulation was similar among ileum, cecum, and rectum. In contrast, BBMV prepared from duodenum and jejunum did not show any Na+-dependent taurocholate transport, as the taurocholate uptake was not affected when a Na+ gradient was replaced by a K+ gradient. The use of taurochenodeoxycholate in the incubation medium inhibited Na+-dependent taurocholate transport in the ileum, cecum, and rectum. This study is the first to show the presence of a Na+-dependent bile salt transport in BBMV obtained from chicken ileum, proximal cecum, and rectum.