Expression of renal transport systems for inorganic phosphate and sulfate in Xenopus laevis oocytes

As a first step within an experimental strategy (expression cloning) leading to the structural identification of the two brush-border membrane transport systems for phosphate and sulfate, we have studied the expression of Na(+)-dependent uptake of phosphate and sulfate in Xenopus laevis oocytes injected with rabbit kidney cortex poly(A)+ RNA (mRNA). Na(+)-dependent uptake of phosphate and sulfate was stimulated in a dose- and time-dependent manner up to 20-fold as compared to water-injected controls. After fractionation of the mRNA on a sucrose gradient (or by preparative gel electrophoresis), two neighboring fractions were identified to stimulate Na(+)-dependent phosphate uptake (average size: 3.4 kilobases) and Na(+)-dependent sulfate uptake (average size: 3.7 kilobases). The two transport systems can be discriminated by their inhibition by thiosulfate, which reduced sulfate uptake, but not phosphate uptake. Kinetic characterization of the expressed Na(+)-dependent transport activities results in properties similar to those described for transport activity in renal brush-border membrane vesicles.