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Cell membranes impermeable to NH3

Nature volume 339, pages 478–480 (1989)Cite this article

Abstract

CLASSICALLY, there is a direct correlation between the lipophilic nature of a molecule and its rate of permeation across a biological membrane,1,2 so cell membranes should be more permeable to small, neutral molecules than they are to charged molecular species of similar size. Consequently, the distribution of NH4+ in biological systems is generally believed to be due to the rapid diffusion and equilibration of lipophilic NH3 across cell membranes and the accumulation of NH4+ to be governed by pH differences between compartments. Here we report that renal tubule cells from the medullary thick ascending limb of Henle have an apical membrane which is not only virtually impermeable to NH3, but is also highly permeable to NH4+. These remarkable properties have been incorporated into a model which explains how this renal epithelium can mediate vectorial movement of NH4+ between compartments of equal pH3,4.

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. Renal Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

    Deepak Kikeri, Adam Sun & Steven C. Hebert

  2. Brockton/West Roxbury Veterans Administration Hospitals, The Harvard Center for the Study of Kidney Diseases, Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

    Mark L. Zeidel

Authors
  1. Deepak Kikeri
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  2. Adam Sun
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  3. Mark L. Zeidel
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  4. Steven C. Hebert
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Kikeri, D., Sun, A., Zeidel, M. et al. Cell membranes impermeable to NH3. Nature 339, 478–480 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/339478a0

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