NHE3: A Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger isoform of renal brush border

Na⁺/H⁺ exchangers in the brush-border (luminal, apical) membrane of renal proximal tubules are responsible for active, transcellular reabsorption of NaHCO₃ and NaCl. Although well characterized kinetically, the protein that mediates Na⁺/H⁺ exchange in the renal brush border has not been identified. Several Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger genes, including NHE1, NHE2, NHE3, and NHE4, are expressed in the kidney. To identify the NHE3 gene product and to determine its cellular and subcellular localization in the rabbit kidney, an NHE3-isoform-specific antibody was prepared. Guinea pigs were immunized with purified fusion protein containing the carboxy-terminal 40 amino acids of NHE3 (fpNHE3-C40). After affinity purification, immune sera demonstrated specific reactivity to the NHE3 sequence within the fusion protein as well as to an 80-kDa polypeptide expressed in NHE3-transfected LAP1 cells. Western blot analysis showed that anti-fpNHE3-C40 specifically reacted with an 80- kDa protein that is relatively enriched in renal brush-border membrane compared with basolateral membrane. Immunocytochemical studies confirmed that the Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger isoform NHE3 is expressed along the microvillar membrane of the brush border of proximal tubule cells in the rabbit kidney.