Isolation and reconstitution of the chloride transporter of clathrin-coated vesicles

Clathrin-coated vesicle acidification is mediated by an endomembrane proton translocating ATPase. This pump is electrogenic, and significant pH gradient formation requires the parallel movement of chloride through a chloride transporter in order to maintain net electroneutrality. We have solubilized, isolated and achieved 270-fold purification of this chloride transporter by means of selective detergent solubilization with cholate and polyoxyethelene 9-lauryl ether (C₁₂E₉), hydroxylapatite chromatography, and glycerol gradient centrifugation. Stabilization of the solubilized transporter requires 5 mM dithiothreitol. The partially purified transporter was co-reconstituted with the purified clathrin-coated vesicle proton translocating complex to yield preparations of proteoliposomes capable of valinomycin-independent proton pumping, as assessed by ATP-generated acridine orange quenching. In addition, the chloride transporter was independently reconstituted and was shown to catalyze diisothiocyano-disulfonic acid stilbene-sensitive ³⁶Cl uptake. The anionic conductive selectivity of the reconstituted transporter (chloride = bromide > nitrate) exactly matched that of the transporter of native clathrin-coated vesicles. These studies demonstrate that the chloride transporter of vacuolar acidification systems is structurally and functionally dissociable from co-existing proton pumps and allow for investigations of pump-transporter interactions in a resolved system.