Metabolic and Membrane Aspects of Gastric H+ Transport

Metabolic properties of dog gastric mucosa, investigated by substrate level measurements, implicate the Krebs cycle as the major energy-yielding metabolic pathway but are equivocal in terms of an ATP-based H+ secretion. Purification of gastric membranes by centrifugation and free flow electrophoresis results in a class of membrane vesicles enriched in K+-ATPase and capable of ATP-energized H+ uptake. Immunohistochemistry shows these to be derived from the parietal cell. H+ uptake by the vesicles is accompanied by K+ efflux, and movement of either ion is not potential-coupled. The simplest interpretation of these transport studies is uptake of KCl by the vesicles by passive diffusion followed by active H+:K+ exchange. In some respects, however, this model fails to conform to the expectations from in vitro studies. It may be, therefore, that another pump (i.e., redox) or another membrane component (i.e., CI– conductance) is lost during purification. The properties of the vesicles are such, however, as to establish their role in H+ secretion by the stomach.